\n<\/p>\n
You have probably heard debates about the risks and rewards of age gap relationships, but what about \u201cswag\u201d gap relationships?<\/p>\n
No, we haven\u2019t been transported back to the mid-2010s, and no, this has nothing to do with Justin Bieber<\/strong>\u2018s recent album of the same name.<\/p>\n It instead comes from TikTok users recently posting about the negative effects of being with a partner who has less \u201cswag\u201d than you.<\/p>\n A \u201cswag gap relationship\u201d refers to a romantic relationship where one partner is significantly cooler than the other. This can be in relation to their fashion sense, overall personality, or both, though it is often heavily focused on outward appearance in the posts.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not worried about an age gap relationship. Like I\u2019m grown, I can handle myself,\u201d TikTok user @itsalmondmilkhunni said in a video<\/a>. \u201cWhat I am worried about is a swag gap relationship. Never again.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHaving me showing up in public looking swagged out, looking fly, I have a cool outfit. And then my partner just looks an effing mess behind me,\u201d she continued, \u201cand it\u2019s not just clothes, too, it\u2019s an aura and an energy [\u2026] that\u2019s just a boundary of mine, I will never be in a swag gap relationship [again].\u201d<\/p>\n She then went on to explain that the pitfalls of being in a swag gap relationship, explaining that it can be physically and mentally draining as well as \u2018\u201dtake a toll on your swag.\u201d<\/p>\n Being in a swag gap relationship can mean a number of negative experiences: everything from being mildly embarrassed by how your partner dresses and acts at a party to realizing you have fundamental differences in interests or expectations for what your priorities will be in life.<\/p>\n \u201cI am glad we\u2019re shedding light to, like, swag gap relationships,\u201d user @tatianamarie said in another TikTok<\/a>. \u201cBecause it is actually not fun, as pretentious as it sounds, for me to bring to the table, like, all my fun, cool, niche interests, and then there\u2019s like a progression of: someone thinks I\u2019m cool for it and then is interested in me, then makes fun of me for it [\u2026] and then, after all of that, jacks my swag, takes my interests, [and] brings them to the next one.\u201d<\/p>\n While the concept originated as a way of classifying romantic relationships, some users have even extended the concept to friendships.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t be friends with someone if there\u2019s a swag gap because they\u2019ll end up psycho trying to become you,\u201d TikTok user @daishagutierrez wrote as the on-screen text in a video<\/a>, followed by a caption saying she \u201clearned the hard way.\u201d<\/p>\n Even Justin Bieber, who often uses the term \u201cswag\u201d so much so that he named two albums<\/a> after it, has been accused of having a swag-gap-presenting relationship with him seen trailing behind his wife Hailey Bieber<\/strong> in an arguably swag-less gray sweatsuit while she wears a trendy outfit consisting of a mini dress and high heels.<\/p>\n While so-called victims of swag gap relationships are staunchly against it, can avoiding the swag gap really be seen as a hard-and-fast rule?<\/p>\n