Unpacking Glasgow riddy culture: Scottish shame, jokes and self-growth
a silly little report ...
Glasgow Riddy Culture: a concept you may not recognise by name, but if you reside anywhere near the Clyde, you will certainly recognise it from past experience.
Literally, to “hit a riddy” is to go red in the face from embarrassment after someone brings a slip-up of yours into focus. But feeling humiliated after being called out is a relatable experience for anyone; and awkward moments are generally fleeting. So why does the term namecheck Glasgow specifically? And what makes such brief indignities in Glasgow so powerful that they impose a whole culture? ....
Starting in childhood and calcified in teenage years, the sense of embarrassment felt in a G postcode can be more acute than elsewhere because it reflects a pride complex ingrained in many Glaswegians. Aspiring to authenticity and humbleness in character above all else, anything too earnest is derided as cringe-worthy.
Glasgow riddy culture imposes a pervasive shame that prescriptively applies a layer of embarrassment to even innocuous actions. This hardened attitude demands constant preemptive worry, keeping people hyper aware of how they are being perceived (in public and online) at all times. This is especially true among young people. Ostensibly all under the umbrella of humour, the resulting dreaded takedowns exist on a spectrum, from gentle roasts from a quick-witted passerby making fun of the way your shoelaces are tied, to punitive blows at your appearance or personality that have the capacity to stunt individuals, permanently.
From my informal survey of Glaswegian young people between the age of 18-24, across East Dunbartonshire and Glasgow City Council regions in late November 2022, 97% confirmed, growing up, that they were conscious of riddy culture. When asked if they would want to eradicate the presence of the big riddy in Glasgow, if hypothetically there was a way to, the answer was a resounding 85% yes.
If you were born, raised and state-schooled in Glasgow, you probably have a good understanding of how riddy culture informs and mutates behaviour. One positive aspect of riddy culture is its capacity to keep people grounded. Adhering to its don’t-get-above-your-station cautionary outlook prevents overbearingness and ensures well-adjusted personalities. As Scots, we pride ourselves on our humility and lack of pretentiousness, so helping to maintain a population of “sound c*nts” is socially productive.
But does perpetuating riddy culture make you cool, or just cruel? Of those surveyed, 90% felt its ethos of keeping people humble actually manifests as meanness, more often than not. Thinly veiling their bullying, people can get away with casual torment in the name of the tough-love. One participant commented “I think it’s shaped what I’ve found funny, it’s used as a point to laugh at someone else and deflect that attention off my own person”, suggesting the peer pressure to join in has survivalist appeal. Global travel guides certify the fact we are the friendliest population towards tourists, but we clearly don’t always extend that kindness to one another. Indeed, only 33% of the young people surveyed thought riddy culture is an innocent, funny, and harmless way to stay down-to-earth.
Participants opined that the outlook and conduct that riddy culture dictates negatively impacts young people’s self image. Fostering inhibitions and impeding confidence (most notably during school years), 90% relate to checking themselves on things before others could call them out (I recall ripping my shiny UK Maths Challenge badge from the lapel of my school blazer before joining the flow of corridor traffic moving between classes!).
But perhaps the most prominent consequence of riddy culture is its stunting effect on personal development, as it discourages the pursuit of creative endeavours that might feel true to one’s identity. Survey responses showed that 90% agreed that either in personal experience or in observance of peers, riddy culture has limited self expression. Jodie, 22, elaborated on the fallout: “judging other people for pursuing cringe passions (especially Youtube/Twitch) - specifically pursuing hobbies that seem American or ‘vain’. It definitely stopped me from pursuing poetry and fiction writing” and Emi, 22, remarked “riddy culture prevented me from being comfortable with exploring certain subcultures I enjoyed … such as alternative fashion or cosplay”.
Arbiters of riddy have traditionally been straight lads, tipsy on a toxic cocktail of machismo and suppressed insecurity. When asked if riddy culture’s eschewing of anything “unconventional” encompasses a somewhat queerphobic outlook, e.g. people resigning to the obscenely antiquated comments that would reverberate around primary school playgrounds (think “haha, that’s so gay!"), 96% agreed.
And what of those currently in the throes of adolescence? Calum Johnston, youth worker from theGKexperience in Glasgow, observes their “fear of embarrassing themselves in front of peers. Especially being the first to do something [new] … an activity, hobby or passion, they are less likely to go for it”, scared that “they might fail”. And so it endures.
How then, to get rid of the riddy? The responses suggest it is an unavoidable growing pain. But as one participant noted, “When people leave somewhere like school where riddy culture is so present, you start to see people grow into themselves … start to care less about what people think”, so its grip can gradually loosen and become a fading threat in the rear view mirror. My survey evinces a majority who agree riddy culture does not serve us, so could doubling down on our riddy be the solution? To choose mockery, choose to declare our passions proudly, choose not to overthink our gait going down a supermarket aisle? I will risk entrapping myself in a riddy by pretentiously quoting Virginia Woolf: “the eyes of others our prisons; their thoughts our cages”. Only by grabbing the keys from the riddy jailers can the next generation be free from this sentence of shame. As even the most trivial thing has the potential to be caught in the riddy crossfire, the only way out is through.