Surely, the phrase “What’s the tea?” has been floating around in your ether, just as it has in mine!
It echoes across social media, shows up in all of the group chats, and it’s always mentioned within the extremely ridiculous though thoroughly entertaining reality TV confessionals. The phrase has become a playful and popular way to ask ‘what’s the gossip’... the ‘tea’ being the juicy details. But there’s more to it than just a catchy phrase and some buzz. It has roots that run a bit deeper than pop culture as the saying itself originated in culture and community.
So: What’s the tea and what’s the history of this phrase?
To my understanding, the origin of this phrase is a book from 1984, titled Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. The author of the work, John Berendt, interviews a prominent drag queen from Georgia and asks about her dating life. Here, she speaks about those who “find out her T”. When the interviewer asks, “Your T?”, the queen replies, “yeah, my T. My thing, my business, what's goin' on in my life.”
Moreover, in William G. Hawkeswood’s work, One of the Children: An Ethnography of Identity and Gay Black Men, from 1991, an individual known as “Nate” is quoted using the word “tea” in a similar way. They speak about the drag community giving “dance and great tea [gossip]”. This phrase refers to the tea as something exciting and/or entertaining.
Over the years, Black drag culture has shaped and influenced mainstream pop culture in various ways. Yet, far too often the cultural and historical significance behind what we celebrate today gets overshadowed and misrepresented as mainstream media adopts the aesthetics without acknowledging the origins.
That is why it feels important to me to offer a bit of context around this popular phrase. As we use it in and out of the shop, we want to do so in a way that celebrates the communities who created it! It’s not just trendy slang.. it’s a piece of living history. “Tea” was never solely about gossip, it’s about truth and self-expression!
And in that spirit... I’d like to spill a little tea of my own.
June has been a full cup for me!
My days were filled with long talks, short walks (thanks to that mid-summer heat), lots of art, and the magical ease of connecting deeper with my communities.
My dear friend who lives in DC came to visit, and together, we celebrated the month of Pride and we put our voices to use– we fought for love and for freedoms. Big shifts were made, here in Salt Lake, and I am happy to have been a part of it!
In all of this, I am reminded why ‘tea’ matters– not just as a phrase, but as a practice! It’s about making room for the truth of who we are, where we’re from, and where we’re headed.
So! What’s your tea? Let’s catch up.
Pop in the shop to gab, soon! Or stay tuned and keep reading, I’ll post more tea shortly!
