There are a lot of trends that I can safely say that if I'm not hating on them, then they at least severely annoy the heck out of me.
However, this particular trend is really starting to grate my nerves and I really don't know why it is even popular. Try as I might, I can't figure out why people think that this verbal and written trend is at all clever or cute or interesting or appropriate or anything other than an egregious butchering of the English language.
I'm talking about this trend of taking a word that we've already got and adding something to it to make it gender-specific, especially toward men.
Mantrums = a tantrum that a man his having, guyliner = eyeliner on a guy, meggings = leggings a man is wearing, etc. You get the picture.
Yes, yes, I know. Slang is always being created, ever-evolving and ever-changing. However, is this the best that we can come up with when it comes to new slang terms these days? At least the old slang trends were interesting. These are just ridiculous and make the person sound like an idiot, especially if the person you're talking to has no idea what you're doing when you're mispronouncing the word.
To me this is an unnecessary butchering of the English language that serves absolutely no purpose. I suppose that you could say that about any slang term, but...seriously. Why change the word just to make it gender-specific? It isn't like someone isn't going to understand what you are saying when you say some guy is having a tantrum.
"Ugh, why do men have to have so many mantrums all the time?" is a completely redundant sentence. If you are already speaking
only of men, then using the word "tantrum" makes you sound like you've got more than a 3rd grade comprehension of grammar, context and the English language itself.
There is no reason to make a word gender specific if we already know that the subject we're speaking of
is gender specific. I just can't see a point to this type of slang. :/ I think its a cop-out in the effort to be clever.
I was never really going to even comment on this, but I keep seeing it over and over again and right at this moment it just got on my nerves so much that I had to stop what I was doing and write this little mini rant to vent about it. I don't truly mean to insult anyone, but do the people who are using this kind of slang and making it up really realize what they sound like when they are doing it
Comments (12)
I'm not a fan of these new kinds of words, either. They project this girly-gossipy-superficial air to me, and like you said, are overly clever. They annoy me.
@decembriel@xanga - Yeah, I really don't understand how it all got started and caught on like it did. :/
I thought "guyliner" was sort of amusing (as in, I would giggle if someone used it in a movie, but probably not real life) but MEGGINGS? That's just... eh. If someone used that word before I read this, I probably wouldn't know what they were talking about.
@ithiliya@xanga - I know, lol! To me, meggings sounds like something you'd probably eat. o.o;;
I thought Megging was what happened when I pleaded for money.
@tracezilla - I know this sounds weird, but to me "meggings" sounds like a made-up British or Australian slang word for something sexual *LOL*
@scrambledmegsntoast@xanga - Lol!
@ithiliya@xanga - Lol, omg now that you mention it...it actually kinda does...o.o;
yeah, i was at a diner party in december and my weight was brought up "so you are manorexic?"
D: 'what?'"you know, like anorexia, but for men". and the girl said it in such a sincere voice it was just... feminism has done allot of really good things, but trying to make women replace men as normal... not one of them, and even if it was, this approach doesn't work... i mean you didn't outright say this, but does reinforce the 'girls are airheads' stereotype.
this does not constitute wordplay. :/ wordplay is like 'raised to raze' (meaning 'brought up to burn down') or 'lord of the last taco' (picturing Zoro with a taco :P )
that said i understand some of it; like manstick rather than lipstick in theature (different shades/colors, which come across differently on stage). but not much.
@lenybobsyouruncle@xanga - Real feminism has nothing to do with putting women above men or replacing men with women. Real feminism is all about equality. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't really realize that because the majority of feminists that get the spotlight and the limelight, and the majority of feminists that people seem to have strong encounters with are the ones that are trying to use feminism the wrong way, to make things like you were talking about; women above or replacing men. Its unfortunate that so many self-proclaimed feminists don't realize that. The reason they get recognized more often is because they're more loud and more aggressive, and they get more spotlight and limelight because the people giving them that light know that they are going to make people angry and get some heated arguing going.
And the other thing you mentioned is actually my point, women aren't airheads. Well, I suppose some are, but so are some men. :p But, when they use terms that are so ridiculous like this, it makes them SOUND like they're brainless. :(
@tracezilla - most men are dumb. and allot of women are too... but that is beside the point. my point is the people showing lack of intelligence by using that terminology, they become what they say. i mean, you can have a solid argument and then make up a
sexually discriminative BS word, that ads no value, and it shows the firm position isn't so firm, and might be very biased. kinda like using "i just got a implants" as a pickup line... ;)
i like the old idea of feminism, which you seem to support. but in addition to what you covered: there is this idea that women can make remarks about men as a group without being sexist... erm... also the idea that it is okay for women to fondle other women... who they don't know, and don't have consent from... erm... and that a woman should be able to have a job and a family... and other things that women are entitled to that men arn't and vice versa... and it just seems crazy to me. rather than balancing the scale by looking at what men have that women were denied, then giving women that (and vice vers), and then giving both physical states of being the same benifits at the same time. the balancing 'attempt' seems to give one side something big, then the other side, back and forth... and the difference doesn't seem to be shrinking, but rather, getting larger. like uber conservatives and uber liberals can't seem to even talk anymore... women are getting into the workforce, and anti-sexual harassment laws are being brought into the public spectrum... but roles are becoming confusing..and words are losing meaning you can't even tell someone you love them and reasonably expect them to know what you mean...so imho either society or technology has been separating people. why do you think attempts at individuality are sky rocketing?
I don't think there's anything wrong with individuality, so long as people realize the difference between that and self-absorption.
I agree with you, there are definitely double-standards on both sides of the fence, and instead of working to close them, instead people seem to be working on either widening them or just simply reversing them. Which doesn't solve a single thing, and often times creates newer problems and makes existing problems worse.