"Healing" to "Flexing": Slang Terms Turning into an Industry

The term “anjay” once sparked a national debate in Indonesia. Surabaya (ANTARA) - In recent years, Indonesian public spaces have been filled with the emergence of terms such as healing, flexing, gas, and anjay. These words not only circulate on social media but have also seeped into everyday conversations, gradually shaping how the younger generation understands themselves and the reality around them. This phenomenon is often seen as mere linguistic creativity. However, when examined through the lens of Critical Discourse Analysis, particularly Norman Fairclough’s approach, such language is never truly neutral. It is a social practice laden with interests. In Fairclough’s framework, language operates on three levels: text, discursive practice, and social practice. At the text level, the word healing, for example, has shifted in meaning from “healing” in the medical realm to “recreation” or “a brief escape from life’s pressures”. This shift may seem simple, but it actually contains a change in perspective: from a complex recovery process to an instant consumptive activity. Nevertheless, the analysis does not stop at meaning. At the discursive practice level, it is important to see how these terms are produced and disseminated. The word healing did not become popular by chance. It is reinforced by influencers, social media content, and the tourism industry, which consistently link happiness to travel, aesthetic cafes, and shareable visual experiences. In this context, language not only reflects reality but also helps construct it. Moving to the social practice level, it is evident that healing has become part of the logic of lifestyle capitalism. Mental health, which should be a serious and complex issue, is reduced to a consumption activity. This term subtly shifts solutions from reflection or professional treatment to purchasing experiences. In other words, self-care is no longer just a need but has been commodified into a product. A similar phenomenon can be observed with the term flexing. Textually, it refers to the act of showing off wealth or achievements. In discursive practice, this term is often used on social media to comment on certain lifestyles. At the social practice level, flexing plays a role in shaping new norms about success: that achievements need to be displayed to be recognised. Even criticism of flexing, in turn, strengthens the visibility of the practice. In this logic, both the perpetrators and the critics are trapped in the same system.