Forget the duckface, Gen Z has invented a new concept.

After surviving mirror selfies, Snapchat dog filters, and Kylie Jenner-style duckface photos from 2014, a new facial expression is dominating Instagram and TikTok: the “Gen Z pout” and its falsely nonchalant softness. Decrypting a pout that says a lot about a generation that pretends not to make any effort.

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She doesn’t smile, she isn’t particularly attractive, it almost looks like she’s slightly frowning. And yet, she is everywhere.

Welcome to the era of the “Gen Z pout,” or the “Z pout era” as one might call it, this minimalist pout adopted by Generation Z, represented on TikTok as well as on red carpets, and embodied by stars like Lily-Rose Depp or Billie Eilish.

At first glance, one could think it is simply a lack of expression, a sort of “I can’t be bothered,” or even chronic fatigue for the less fortunate. But no, it is indeed a pose, worked on and thoughtful. And above all, very rational.

Goodbye duckface

Flashback, late 2000s, early 2010s. The duckface reigns supreme, with its exaggeratedly pursed lips, its intense gaze (or eyes closed in its drunken version), and an assertive attitude. Even a little V with a hand for the most daring.

Kim K. and her duckface.dr

A pose not necessarily ultra aesthetic; we call it the “duckface,” but we could have called it the “hen butt” and it would have worked too. At least, it’s a pose that lives.

Then comes Gen Z, looking at its ancestors with a slight discomfort, for whom everything is “awesome,” and who decides to do exactly the opposite.

The “Gen Z pout” is thus the anti-duckface. Lower lip sucked in, upper lip boosted, almost absent gaze, neutral face. A slightly bovine air, to stick with the farm lexical field. The goal of this emptiness? To give the impression that the photo was taken “without thinking about it.” Except, of course, everything is thought out and it is anything but spontaneous.

As the New York Times puts it, it’s about looking like you “aren’t trying too hard,” in an aesthetic of perfectly calculated detachment. In other words, pretending not to try… while trying very hard.

A pout, but more of a mood

What is fascinating about the “Gen Z pout” is not so much the look as what it tells. We shift from a noisy generation that wanted to be seen and heard (hello millennials) to a generation that wants to appear indifferent. Or at least, to appear indifferent with style, even though they are not indifferent at all.

This pout is part of a larger trend: a minimalist aesthetic, a permanent irony, a rejection of “too much.” Selfies become less joyful, more controlled, almost cold.

Some even speak of a “dissociative pout,” as if the person is looking at the camera while thinking about the state of the world. Atmosphere.

The meticulously crafted nonchalance

But this is where it becomes almost funny. Because behind this apparent simplicity lies a real technique. On TikTok, tutorials abound to explain how to achieve this subtly blurred gaze above a very lightly pursed mouth. Yes, there are tutorials to look like you’re not making an effort.