Side Part Vs Middle Part Debate — Dwight Schrute middle part meme reacting to Gen Z hair trend

Side Part Vs Middle Part Debate

2020catchphrasedeclining

Published August 11, 2026

The Side Part Vs Middle Part Debate is a TikTok argument that broke through in early 2021, with Gen Z users calling side-parted hair a giveaway that someone is an out-of-touch millennial while middle parts belonged to the young. The fight sat next to related generational callouts about skinny jeans and the crying-laughing emoji.

generational memes gen z memes fashion aesthetic memes debate memes tiktok memes

Overview

The Side Part Vs Middle Part Debate is a TikTok argument playing out mostly under the hashtags #sidepart and #middlepart, where Gen Z users insist side-parted hair marks someone as an out-of-touch millennial while middle parts belong to the young1. The bit sits alongside other generational callouts on the app, including scorn for skinny jeans, capitalized text, and the crying-laughing emoji3. Together those cues form a checklist TikTok teens used to sort strangers into age brackets by aesthetic choice alone2.

Most videos in the debate are visual side-by-sides. A user films the same face styled first with a side part, then flips to a middle part, with the middle part framed as obviously more flattering1. Some clips crossed millions of views on their way to mainstream press coverage by early 20212. Middle parts got tied to bigger Gen Z looks like curtain bangs, while side parts brought to mind mid-2000s scene kids and Disney Channel teens4.

For millennials watching from outside TikTok, the fight came as a shock because side parts had been the default in the 2000s and 2010s during the Lauren Conrad beach-goddess era, and middle parts had been culturally dead since the 1990s1. Vox rolled the callout into a wider portrait of stereotypical millennials that also included the crying-laughing emoji, saying 'doggo,' and being weirdly attached to Harry Potter2.

Origin & Background

Platform
TikTok (viral spread on Twitter and mainstream press)
Date
2020

No single TikToker is credited with starting the claim that side parts belong to old people, but likely accelerants during 2020 included Charli D'Amelio's climb past 100 million TikTok followers (her middle-parted look was widely copied), and a July 29, 2020 video from TikToker @missladygleep daring viewers to prove anyone looks better with a side part, whose audio clip became a template for other users' side-by-side comparison videos5. Glamour later pointed to that response format as a big driver of the trend, describing how the side part almost always lost the head-to-head comparison and how popular TikTokers like Addison Rae and Bella Poarch modeled middle parts as the new default1.

How It Spread

By fall 2020 the argument was pouring into mainstream press. On October 21, 2020, feminist writer Jessica Valenti tweeted asking someone to write about TikTok teens hating on the side part, calling herself fascinated by it1. On October 29, 2020, Glamour published 'TikTok Teens Have Spoken: The Side Part Is Dead,' pushing the argument well beyond TikTok's Gen Z core; the Glamour writer even described being asked mid-appointment if she wanted to try a new part, and having her hairstylist flick her side part into the middle for the first time since about 20051.

The debate peaked in early February 2021. BuzzFeed covered it on February 3, then Narcity followed on February 8 with the pitch that skinny jeans and side parts were dead giveaways of being 'old,' framing the whole thing as a Gen Z assault on millennial style3. On February 10, the official Google Trends Twitter account posted a U.S. map tracking searches for 'middle part' and 'side part' after a jump in interest, and two days later writer @nwalks joked on Twitter that her middle part just made her look like Jared Leto5.

Millennial responses ran from lighthearted to defensive. Vox weighed in on February 16, 2021, framing the whole thing as fake generational warfare and quoting writers joking that trying a middle part made them look like Rick from Degrassi2. Vox also highlighted a mom-influencer post that listed infertility, postpartum depression, a C-section, and pandemic-era homeschooling as reasons the writer had no time to care what Gen Z thought of her hair2. Bustle followed on February 17 with a defense of the side part, sending two of its millennial editors to switch parts for a day; one editor recommitted to the side part after the trial4.

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How to Use This Meme

The classic version uses @missladygleep's original audio. A creator films themselves with a side part, then flips to a middle part, and typically lets the middle part win by pretending to be startled by how much better it looks1. Text overlays often call millennials out by name, or use dismissive phrases scoring the comparison against the side part1. Millennial-facing versions flip the template again: someone shows themselves refusing to change, or trying a middle part and hating it, or comparing themselves to figures like Rick from Degrassi or Jared Leto after the switch2. Bustle's editor-swap format is another common variant, running a multi-day trial and reporting back on whether the switch is worth keeping4.

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