Tiny Gentle Asians, an Instagram account featuring chubby Asian babies, accompanied by punny captions, may be the most adorable account on the Internet.
Melissa Kenny, the creative genius behind Tiny Gentle Asians, or TGAs as she likes to call them, said the concept of collecting images of Asian babies with cheeks that you just want to squish came from her own joy.
And, apparently, she’s not the only one obsessed with these little nuggets. The TGA account has more than 53,000 followers and counting, including talk show host and comedienne Chelsea Handler.
“When I began the account, my intent was posting original ‘paparazzi’ style pics — that is indeed when the creepiness was at its absolute maximum,” she told Oyster Mag in an interview. “Now I just pull from a variety of gorgeous and wonderful accounts and people seem to like that much more anyway.”
According to Kenny, who’s a Thai fashion writer, editor and social media consultant, the name of the account perfectly sums up these cute little munchkins.
“The Merriam-Webster dictionary tells me gentle means ‘free from harshness, sternness, or violence,’” she told the Huffington Post. “How can babies really be anything other than those things?”
Kenny’s Instagram posts range from moms who dress their babies up in the most amazing costumes to the little ones just chewing on stuffed animals.
She pointed out that it’s not just the staged or candid photos of chubby Asian babies that attract users, it’s also the perfectly-angled shots.
“What I have observed is that Japanese and Korean mothers seem to take a more theatrical approach to documenting their babies,” she explained. “This approach is most definitely steeped in humor – using unflattering angles to best accentuate a baby’s chubbiness, for instance.”
Another reason the account has become so popular is because TGAs are very relatable.
Kenny added that people often tag their friends when scrolling through and seeing TGAs that mirror their lives: “Going ‘hi @friend remember when we skipped the gym in favor of that Family Pizza Meal Deal?’ is just another way people communicate with their friends during the day.”
