‘Hot rodent men’: Gen Z reveal bizarre new boyfriend obsession
A new trend is taking over and Generation Z have come up with a whole new word to describe “hot” men – and it’s really weird.
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Generation Z has spoken, and the hot rodent man is in, and they don’t want him fumigated.
The concept of the hot rodent man might sound foreign to anyone who has ever worn skinny jeans, but it is a term young people use to describe a hipster.
A hot rodent man can also be known as a ‘sexy rat boyfriend’.
Gen Z want the hot rodent men, and they are very vocal about it online.
“Hot rodent summer,” one declared on X.
“Rise of the hot rodent,” another wrote.
“I hope someone calls me a rat boyfriend someday,” one shared.
So, what exactly is a hot rodent or a sexy rat? Great question.
It is essentially a lanky man over someone more bulky. It’s someone with sunken eyes and pale skin that scurries around instead of walking with purpose. Essentially, it is the opposite of a finance bro.
Johnny Depp in the nineties is a prime example of a hot rodent. He wasn’t Brad Pitt, he was still gorgeous, but he looked more afraid of vitamin C.
It’s a word to describe someone who is not conventionally handsome, but still hot.
So, while Chris Hemsworth is conventionally perfect with his very white teeth, tanned skin, ripped body, and blonde hair, someone like musician Matty Healy is equally hot, just in a different way.
He is pale, lean, angular and stunning.
Are you getting it?
Generation Z thinks it is pretty clever here, but it’s really just a more outlandish way to describe what Millennials would call a hot hipster or an indie guy.
Online, the generation is declaring that lean men in leather jackets are just as hot as gym bros in football shorts and pretending it is a cultural revelation.
Gen Z want men who look calcium-deficient and like they’ll write you love poems.
They want Alex Turner from the Arctic Monkeys in the mid-2000s writing to Alexa Chung, saying: “My mouth hasn’t shut up about you since you kissed it”.
Millennials have been there and done that!
Of course, Gen Z think this is a new idea, but anyone who grew up in Australia and watched the rise and fall of the band Short Stack, which featured three pale men with giant hair, will understand that this isn’t a new desire for young people.
The concept has gone so viral that the US version of the Today Show hilariously discussed the idea during a pretty awkward segment.
Former US President George Bush’s daughter Jenna Bush Hagger co-hosted the show and explained it clearly.
“Hot rodent boyfriends or sexy rat men are one in the same. So if someone comes up to you and says ‘hello sexy rat man’ they are also calling you a rodent boyfriend,” she declared.
The show even supplied a list of what makes a man a hot rodent. They have to convey the opposite of toxic masculinity, not be conventionally attractive (which makes them hot), have angular features and show love to their partners publicly but in a weird way.
So basically, the list described Travis Barker licking Kourtney Kardashian in public.
Ms Bush Hagger was all for it.
“You should want to date Stuart Little,” she advised, which yes, is the fictional mouse that can talk.
Even though being called a rodent or a rat might seem like a slur, everyone can relax, because it isn’t.
Online, some of the hottest young male stars are being declared sexy rats.
Kylie Jenner’s boyfriend, Timothee Chalamet, has been called a “rat” but is also still considered a Gen Z sex symbol.
Similarly, Jeremy Allen White, who just won a Golden Globe for his work on the show The
Bear, has also been dubbed a rodent, and it isn’t an insult.
“Jeremy Allen White does give rodent to me,” someone recently tweeted
Hot rodent men are in and if you’re lucky, one will scurry towards you soon.
Originally published as ‘Hot rodent men’: Gen Z reveal bizarre new boyfriend obsession
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