Jejemon(Tagalog pronunciation:[ˈdʒɛdʒɛmɔ̝n]) was apopular culturephenomenon in thePhilippines.[1]ThePhilippine Daily Inquirerdescribes Jejemons as a "new breed ofhipsterwho have developed not only their own language and written text but also their own subculture and fashion. "[2][3]
Origins
editThis style of shorthand typing arose through theshort messaging service,in which each text message sent by a cellphone is limited to 160 characters, evident in popular phone models in the early 2000s such as theNokia 5110.[4]As a result, an "SMS language"developed in which words were shortened in order to fit the 160-character limit. However, some jejemons are not really" conserving "characters; instead, they are lengthening their message.[2]On April 14, 2010, on a FilipinoTumblrpage, a post aboutvice presidential candidateJejomar Binayindicated that Binay was the Jejemon's preferred vice presidential candidate, complete with a fake poster with him called "Makki Autors". Later the use of wordjejemonto refer to such people made rounds in various Filipinointernet message boards.[2]
The wordJejemonis aportmanteauof the Japanese animated seriesPokémonandjejeas an expression of laughter.
Such short-handed language is not limited to Filipinos:Thaisuse "5555" to denote "hahahaha," sincethe number 5inThai languageis pronounced as "ha."[3]
Demographics
editThe Jejemons are said to be the newyoyoyo~,a term used for Filipinos of the lower income class.[1][3]The parameters of being classified as a Jejemon are still unclear, and how the different "levels" of "Jejemonism" are reached,[5]although there are named levels such as "mild," "moderate" and "severe" or "terminal."[6]
Language
editThesociolectof the Jejemons, calledJejenese,is derived from English,Filipinoand theircode-switched variant,Taglish.It has its own, albeit unofficial, orthography, known asJejebet,which uses the Filipino variant of theRoman Alpha bet,Arabic numeralsand other special characters. Words are created by rearranging letters in a word,alternating capitalization,over-usage of the letters H, X or Z.[3]Superfluous as well as the presence ofsilent letterscharacterize its spelling convention. It has similarities withLeetspeak,primarily the Alpha numeric nature of its writing.
Reaction
editSeveral Facebook fan pages were created both in support and against the group. Celebrities such asAlessandra de Rossi,Ces Drilon,andLourd de Veyrahave condemned the wholesale ridicule of the subculture.[2][7]Due to the sudden existence of jejemons, 'Jejebusters' were created, a group ofinternet grammar vigilantes,typically Filipinos, dedicating their internet lives towards the eradication of jejetyping and jejemon existence.
YouTubevideos were also uploaded parodying the Jejemons, connecting them to the2010 election campaign.Edited television advertisements ofNacionalista Partyproclaiming their disdain, and aneditedphotograph ofGilberto Teodorowith him holding a sign saying that the Jejemons should be "brought back to elementary school" went viral.[8]In 2010, the FilipinoGMA Networkbroadcast the situational comedyJejeMom,headlined byEugene Domingo.In the same year, the late comedianDolphystarred and produced the filmFather Jejemon.
As part of the pre-school year clean-up of schools for the upcoming 2010–11 school year, theDepartment of Education(DepEd) strongly discourages students from using Jejemon spelling and grammar, especially in text messaging. Communicating with others using Jejemon "language" is said to cause deterioration of young Filipino students’ language skills.[9]
Decline and a change of definition
editFrom early 2013 onwards, with the rise ofsmartphoneswhich began to overtakefeature phonesin terms of sales in the country, the phenomenon seems to have made a gradual decline in mainstream popularity. Some social media accounts use such spellings to this date, but most of them are used for sarcasm. The term "jejemon" would gradually shift definition to apejorativeterm to describe a stereotype of poorly educated young people wearinghip-hop clothing,roughly similar to the British slang termchavfor sportswear.in 2017, the Jejemon are also called "hypebeasts" and are recognizable for wearing counterfeit skateboarding or car culture-related brands.[citation needed]and also as in 2020s Jejemon are also called "genggeng" and they also spotted by wearing black shirts, brown pants or joggers and any gangsta hiphop theme clothing
See also
editReferences
edit- ^abNacino, Joseph (April 26, 2010)."Jejemon in the Philippines".CNETAsia.Archived fromthe originalon August 28, 2012.RetrievedApril 30,2010.
- ^abcdLim, Ronald (April 27, 2010)."How do you solve a problem like the Jejemons?".TheManila Bulletin.Archived fromthe originalon September 15, 2012.RetrievedApril 30,2010.
- ^abcd">Jejemons: The new 'jologs'".Philippine Daily Inquirer.April 24, 2010. Archived fromthe originalon April 27, 2010.RetrievedApril 30,2010.
- ^Carag, Elaine (2010).Myx Magazine.Quezon City, Philippines: ABS-CBN Publishing, Inc. p. 25.
- ^Biado, Ed (April 30, 2010)."The jejemon phenom".Manila Standard Today.Archived fromthe originalon May 3, 2010.RetrievedMay 1,2010.
- ^"The jejemon phenomenon: What do language experts say?".GMANews.tv(in Tagalog). April 29, 2010.RetrievedMay 1,2010.
- ^de Veyra, Lourd(April 29, 2010)."Lourd de Veyra: Attack, Jejemons, Attack!".spot.ph. Archived fromthe originalon May 14, 2010.RetrievedMay 11,2010.
- ^Faye Monchelle Gonzalez and Cherry Anne M. Mungcal (May 1, 2010)."'Anti-jejemon' campaign goes viral on the web ".ABS-CBNnews.Archivedfrom the original on May 3, 2010.RetrievedMay 1,2010.
- ^"'DepEd seeks to purge schools of 'jejemon' mentality ".GMANews.tv.May 22, 2010.Archivedfrom the original on May 25, 2010.RetrievedMay 25,2010.