Soyjak

What is drawn

On the right is a man in rectangular glasses, with receding hair, a beard and a mouth opened so wide that a row of teeth and a black cavity are visible. He holds a smartphone with the screen turned toward the viewer. On the screen are the same characters: several more such faces, some pointing with a finger. The background is white and the lines are simple, like a rough sketch.

This is a drawn template in the style of Wojak, the sad drawn hero of internet forums, but with an altered expression: instead of grief, a put-on delight.

Where it came from

According to English-language reviews, the figure emerged on anonymous forums in September 2017. It was born as a remake of Wojak, and the specific author is not named in mass retellings: the picture was changed collectively, as with most memes of these platforms.

The idea was to mock a man whom the creators of the caricature considered a “pampered” type: he is delighted by game consoles and cartoon series, hence the word “soy”. This is mockery with an ideological undercurrent, and in early versions it was openly hostile.

It matters to separate the drawing itself from the later fashion for it: at first it was a narrow joke of anonymous forums, and later the figure turned into a whole family of variants that share only the open mouth and a conditional “naive” look.

How the meaning spread

Over time the picture went beyond its environment. Some began using it against its own creators, labeling as soyjaks those who shout loudest about “real masculinity”. Others used it apolitically, as a comical face for sincere delight at trifles.

A huge number of variants appeared around the figure: soyjaks with different hairstyles, objects in hand, in different scenes. Because of this, it is impossible to say that the picture means the same thing everywhere: the meaning is set by the community and the context.

Because of this duality, the same drawing reads differently in different chats: somewhere as a harmless grimace, somewhere as a deliberate provocation. Before posting, it is worth thinking about what audience the picture will reach.

Caption examples

First example: “when I found the limited-edition figure in the store.” Here the figure is used as sincere joy, without mockery.

Second example: “my friend, seeing the new trailer.” A joke built on exaggeration: a trivial reason produces an indecently loud mouth.

Third example: “a developer whose build passed on the first try.” The open mouth expresses relief and surprise.

Fourth example: a caption on the smartphone, “a feed where everyone looks the same.” Here the endless repetition of faces on the screen is used for a joke about filter bubbles.

Things to keep in mind

The figure grew out of hostile mockery of people for their interests, and in some circles it is still used exactly that way. If you label the picture with the name of a real person, you get the same offensive move.

So it is better to attach the label to situations and things rather than to specific people, and to keep in mind that in some communities the template carries a political undertone that an interlocutor may find unpleasant.