by For today only — and only in this article and its comments — I am lifting the ban on using derogatory terms in order to better understand, to provide context for, and to help eradicate forever from the lips of humankind, an especially vicious sort of name calling that blends an insult across gender lines to hurt both men and women at the same time.
The insulting phrase of this day is: “Man Titties.”
I’ve heard “Man Boobs” before, but “Man Titties” seems to take the
insult to an even deeper level of shared hatred and gender contempt.
The other day I heard two guys on the radio making fun of professional
golfer Phil Mickelson by saying “Phil’s Man Titties bounce up and down as he walks down the fairway.”
Call Phil a rotten golfer, but why bother insulting a body condition that is more genetics than choice?
Are there other insults co-mingling genders while alarmingly putting down both men and women in the same obnoxious phrase?
Or is “Man Titties” the penultimate and the only?
After joining in with comments yesterday for the first time, I was looking forward, with relish, to really getting my teeth into your topic for today. Somehow, getting my teeth into “man titties” is not the sort of thing I had in mind, even with relish!
🙂
Be sure to come back when you have something to say on the topic, budgie.
Lets erradicate the word *titties* altogether ………. NOW. It is derogatory to both genders.
Tits, boobs I can just about tolerate ……. but titties — arghhhhhhhhhh (see red).
People almost always insult others to make themselves feel better. The same goes for laughing at people and peoples misfortune – rather than WITH people.
The Urban Dictionary also points to the following “delicacies”
Man Vagina
A boy with a “penis” but acts like a girl with a very large vagina who likes to mind peoples business but refuses to say to directly to the faces of the people they talk about.
Man Slag
A man who tries his very best to sleep with the majority of his year group at high school, including the guys.
Man Pussy
Gay man’s butt
Dammit pressed the wrong button – I have some more here ….
Man bitch
A name given to guy friends who are funny and generally great people. It makes them sound like some sort of prostitute, so consequently think it makes them sound greater. You like the guy for who they are, and they are a true friend to you. You can trust them. Usually a name given to them by a girl, as from a fellow guy, it could sound rather strange…
Man C*nt
Name given to male who possesses c*nt like qualities
All from http://www.urbandictionary.com
(I still think man titties are the worst!)
Hi Nicola!
Excellent message! Many of those you mention are new to me. I couldn’t believe “Man Titties” — followed by grown men tittering for the next half hour — was being discussed on New York radio. The demise of our culture cuts far and deep.
Are any of these insults created where the word “Woman” comes first?
Or are these phrases most effective in degaussing the masculinity from a man by feminizing his behavior with the most awful insults against females?
C*nt is an interesting word and I can’t type it, either. Why is that word so immediately shattering and fury inducing? Is there a harsh history behind it or has it created its own cachet?
I just had a quick flick through the urban dictionary – nothing of note for women – I am sure however there are plenty of other nasty phrases used instead – bitch, whore, etc.
Which would lead one to thinK that this type of urban slang originates predominantly from males?
I hate the “C” word ……… mainly because of the tone and the disrespect and downright nastiness of it – how do the users think they arrived in this world ……….. yep through one of them.
One might be forgiven for thinking that men do not like womens ability to reproduce and that they also resent the power women have over them. Men have the need to f*** – we have the power to say no. They seem driven to try and degrade women, and womens reproductive capacity by their language. ( And no I dont like the F word either – especially in print ).
If you have any knowledge about the development of slang – particularly derogatory slang please share ?
It would seem that all, if not most, of these cross-gender derogatory terms are describing men, using a woman body part to make the insult.
The only cross-gender term I can think of which goes the other way,i.e. describing a woman, using a male body part, is in a complimentary way. The example being,when we say a woman has got balls, meaning she has courage and determination.
Therefore, I have to agree with Nicola in that these descriptions appear to be solely originated by sexist males who have a derogatory attitude towards women and feel that men’s bits are superior.
I wish I could get this image out of my mind, generated by my earlier post, of getting my teeth into a pair of man titties, covered in relish.
I find it most distURBing!!
🙂
Nicola!
Tone of voice can make a word extra mean — but the “C” word seems to have a reverberation beyond just intonation. Even seeing it in print and not directly attributed to them can drive some women angry. That’s probably why it works. I’m sure a man invented the word and it must have been an experience to watch when the first woman first learned of the word and what it meant.
It is interesting that we can think of lots of combined word insults that insult men by comparing them to women but we can’t think of any of those gender-dyads in the reverse. “Woman Cock” or “Woman Testes” or “Woman Glans” doesn’t have quite the bite of “Man Titties.”
If you think of Drag Shows you see lots of men — Drag Queens — dressing up as women in the most obnoxious stereotype of a woman imaginable: Big breasts, wide bottom, loud makeup, wild hair, and a hoary personality.
In the Gay community that sort of stereotypical behavior as entertainment is acceptable to man, but would the reverse be so wholesomely tolerated?
If Gay women “butched” themselves up as men — Drag Kings — and created giant pelvic bulges, mustaches, flannel shirts and other stereotypical memes would people laugh or would people be insulted at the audacious caricature?
Slang is most powerful when spoken. It loses it passing sting and immediacy in print by giving it the higher status of permanence. Cursing on the page has never been effective and that is why I loathe reading it on blogs. It brings the most awful home in a permanent way while colloquial language is just en passant and gone in the mist of the morning.
budgie —
I agree there is certainly a contamination intended in these insults that is based on gender and not behavior. It used to be enough to insult a man or a boy by calling him a girl or girly or “Girly Man” – all wrong, but still performed in many a locker room and ball field — but I guess as time and tide wander us onward and those stabs lose their ability to wound from overuse and more direct insults like “Man Titties” had to be invented to keep the put-downs going…
As for your relish issue… would you like mustard with that?
“As for your relish issue… would you like mustard with that?”
Nah… mustard is for girly willy-wobblers!!!
“Willy-Wobbers” is a new one one me, budgie! Is that invented or is that UK slang?
Invented I’m afraid, David. I was just trying to get into the spirit of the piece.
Could catch on though, do you think?
🙂
Funny!
I love the invention!
I think we sort of know what it means, but you need to provide the official definition!
😀
“created giant pelvic bulges”
There are actually poorly constructed jeans for men and women that create this illusion when sitting down. Nice for guys, not so nice for women. There has been more than one woman in my acquaintance who has be ridiculed to tears by the purchase of such unfortunate jeans.
Hi A S —
Growing up in Nebraska I think every pair of pants I owned as a youngster showed a false erection while sitting down!
Everyone in my circle was pretty much in the same boat, but it sure was embarrassing to sit down and have your crotch stand at attention!
The only way around it was to wear skin-tight jeans that would pooch a little but not salute.
There’s a plastic surgeon who advertises on the radio for mesotherapy and other services aimed mostly at women.
One of the procedures the doctor does — but I don’t think is advertised as much as the breast augmentations, liposuction, and mesotherapy — is gynecomastia reductions.
Of course, if you’re a man and have a wimpy flat chest, you can also get pec implants to bulk things up a little. I don’t know if the doc at the place I know about does that procedure, but a quick search in Google will point you to places that do.
Hi Chris!
Thanks for those excellent healing points! I know men with extra breast tissue are mocked and made fun of most of their lives. The ability to lose that extra tissue is, for many men, a door to a new way of living.
I remember hearing an interview with pro rassler Duane “The Rock” Johnson from the WWE concerning his recent breast reduction and/or pectoral implants to get his chest looking better for a movie. I cannot, however, find any kind of web link with the details of his decision to have the surgery! I thought he was brave and human to share his experience with us, but perhaps there were second thoughts later…
Hi David,
There’s a film that’s linked to on the Wikipedia article about gynecomastia.
From Me vs. My Breast:
I think it’s like anything esle in life — if you are a little over weight and have man breasts, you might as well make the best of them (or get them reduced). People don’t talk about it much, but there are some women who actually like a heavier guy so they can play with his chest.
Excellent link, Chris, thanks!