Introverts and experts have come together in supporting the idea of self-care, and the Gen-Z-inspired concept of “bed rotting” has now taken TikTok by storm. With almost 305 million views on the controversial social media platform, “rotting” in bed appears to be Gen-Z’s self-care offering to the world, per the New York Post.
Though it may sound like a gross trend, the idea of “rotting” merely refers to laying in bed for long periods of time, doing nothing meaningful or productive. In fact, it does not matter what you do while you are in bed; all that matters is that you are cuddled up in a comfortable place outside of bedtime hours.
There are apparently many different activities that Gen-Zers decide to do while rotting, including binge-watching TV shows, eating fatty foods, or just staring catatonically at the ceiling. The Post mentions that there is also a clean-girl angle to rotting, which includes applying a face mask, laying on silk pillows, or meditating before bed.
However, what this really boils down to is the youth of this country aspiring to be nothing more than a burden on other people, whether that be their parents or the person they are in a relationship with or simply society at large. Bed rotting appears to be a generational phenomenon that conceals the obvious watermarks of entitlement and privilege.
But the claim is that bed rotting is a way of taking back one’s physical and mental health, whether that be from a cold, a long week at work, or a nasty hangover. It seems that Gen-Z believes that it is the first generation to have experienced any of these things, and that the best way to get over them is to do absolutely nothing.
The reason that young people are able to conceive of bed rotting is because they live in an era of relative privilege. Young people are living with their parents for longer periods of time, and non-married couples are living together until their relationships inevitably fizzle. This has not always been the case.
Bed rotting is apparently not regenerative unless it comes with feeling no guilt over doing nothing or worrying about the “Sunday Scaries,” per the report. There is one TikTok user, @g0bra77y, who asked “[w]ho tf actually likes rotting away in their bed” before pointing to herself in the video. The video has reportedly been viewed 1.4 million times.
One person wrote: “I feel my purpose in this life is to rot in dif places. my bed, hotel bed, beach sand, hammock, etc. I was made to lay and rot,” replied another.
Another said: “I wish it was acceptable to tell ppl this is my hobby.”
A third noted: “My favorite activity.”
Of course, it appears to be lost on these young people that laying around is something that many people would love to be doing, but many people have jobs, kids, and obligations to tend to. Laying in bed is an elective activity that one can choose to do after work hours, but it is nothing more than a drain on society when young people have hopes of being nothing more than living zombies wasting away in their parent’s basement.
