Lad Culture , also known as Laddism , is a British youth subculture that emerged and peaked in the 1990s, characterized by an embrace of stereotypically working-class masculine interests, attitudes, and styles. The movement was heavily intertwined with the Britpop music scene, football fandom, and the rise of "lads' mags" like Loaded.

While often presented with irreverent humor, the subculture is widely criticized for its promotion of aggressive sexism, misogyny, and a "raunch culture" that normalized the objectification of women.

The original wave of Lad Culture coincided with the " Cool Britannia " cultural movement of the mid-1990s. It represented a backlash against the perceived intellectualism and androgyny of earlier youth movements, instead celebrating unapologetic, hedonistic masculinity. The magazine Loaded , launched in 1994, is considered to have defined the subculture's tone, offering a mix of music, football, and humor alongside photos of scantily-clad women. Musically, the movement was soundtracked by Britpop bands like Oasis and Blur.

The subculture has evolved and manifested in other countries. In Australia, a distinct "lad" subculture emerged from the 1990s street style scene, linked to UK " Chav " culture. It developed its own specific fashion uniform centered on brands like Nautica, Polo, and Nike. The attitudes of Lad Culture persisted through the 2000s and have seen various revivals, such as the "alt-lad" within the UK rock scene and the gym-focused "New Lad," which maintains the core ethos of "misbehaviour" and "collective vanity."

The fashion of Lad Culture has varied depending on the era and location, but it consistently draws from sportswear and casual brands. The 1990s Britpop lad was associated with football shirts, tracksuits (particularly Adidas), and parkas. In Australia, the lad uniform is more rigid, often consisting of a Nautica or Nike hat, a striped polo shirt, and Nike TN sneakers. The modern revival of the aesthetic often features tighter-fitting clothing, such as polo shirts worn two sizes too small and skinny jeans, reflecting a greater emphasis on a gym-honed physique.

Lad Culture is overwhelmingly criticized for its deep-seated misogyny and its role in creating a hostile environment for women. Critics describe the 1990s and 2000s as a time of "pervasive rape and raunch culture," where the objectification of women was normalized and any challenge to sexism was aggressively dismissed.

A central element of this was the proliferation of "lads' mags" like Loaded, FHM, and Zoo, which were condemned for their mix of sexist "banter" and the constant depiction of women as sexual objects. This media climate is cited as having directly contributed to a real-world culture where harassment and the violation of women's bodily autonomy were commonplace and often dismissed as a joke. The culture's anti-intellectual and often aggressive nature created an environment where it felt impossible for young women to speak out against the sexism they faced.