Yassification

 [Yuh·sih·fuh·kay·shn]

noun

verb: Yassify;  past tense: Yassified;  gerund or present participle: Yassifying

In early 2021, the term “yassification” began to gain popularity amongst the queer POC community. The noun initially meant "the practice of making something gayer” and is an offshoot of the word "yas," which dates back to the 1980s drag ball culture. In today’s adaptation of the phrase, yassification refers to the process of going from unattractive or average to drop-dead gorgeous or just much better looking than before. The word then began to pick up more attention on the social media platform Twitter and continued to rise in popularity on other social media such as Tiktok and Instagram.

Yassification is prevalent in meme culture and can be done through intense editing or makeup. Typically, people will take a normal/common picture of celebrities, pop culture figures, or icons and edit them, most often adding smoky eyes, acrylic nails, and red lips. Yassification is also used when a celebrity or prominent figure in society is publicly seen sporting a new look or more feminine qualities.

This phrase has become a popular form of a meme, often editing goofy accessories upon idealized figures or exhibiting examples of this process from cult classics in a feel-good nonoffensive manner. Yassification is essentially a satirical take on today’s demanding beauty standards and advanced digital culture. What began as LGBQT+ adjacent has transcended internet subcultures and become a widespread online phenomenon, unifying people through humor. The reference is an innocent way to show feminine and queer concepts in pop culture, without taking these concepts seriously, employing an innocent and comical interpretation.