"It's a strange year for gender in politics.
Polite sensitivities are being shelved during this election cycle, a trend led by the conservative female candidates who call themselves 'mama grizzlies.'"
I've been struggling with something lately, and need some advice. Things came into focus when I heard rapper Kanye West in an interview on November 11 with Matt Lauer on The Today Show. Expressing regret about his earlier remark "George Bush doesn't care about black people" after Hurricane Katrina, Kanye West said "I needed to man up... I came to say I've made mistakes."
The phrase "man up" seems to have crept into our lexicon this past year, coming from some surprising sources. Conversations amongst men using such a phrase surprises no one ("boys will be boys") but female candidates running for the Senate using it as a challenge to a male candidate is attention grabbing. Is it not ironic that a successful woman, in any sector, would use a sexist phrase as a barb? That public figures such as Kanye West, Sarah Palin and Sharron Angle each chose the same phrase to express a desire to take responsibility? Who decided that such resolve is an attribute of one sex and not the other?
I am grappling with these questions, as a father of a young daughter. As she navigates her world and learns how to be a good person, the media's role models for young women are performers such as Hannah Montana, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, Miranda Cosgrove and Lady Gaga -- to name a few. In some instances, these performers have an opportunity to take responsibility, to take a stand in something they believe in -- and millions of young girls are watching.
The next time my daughter needs encouragement to take a stand or to accept responsibility for her actions, it could never ring true for me to say "man up". I think I would tell her to be strong.
What would you say?
Follow Dr. Jeffrey H. Toney on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jefftoney
That particular phrase is a disservice to all concerned. When women use it, it becomes even more absurd, and they unconsciously demean themselves for being women.
It would infer that for a woman to be brave, she should "put her man pants on" or "man up" herself.
How about "be honest, and have the integrity and strength to take responsibility and stand up for what you believe".
A few more words, not as catchy, but, hey, it's accurate.
"Man up" could also mean "confess," or to admit something. Again, why is this a masculine trait?
That says it exactly!!!
The kids are going to use what they use , and even more so if they know it will offend the "establishment"....even "thats gay" won't go away anytime soon as it has transcended the obvious connotation,,
Ya gotta do what my parents did with Aerosmith lyrics,,, they ignored them but we knew they knew
I do find it very interesting to see this article today. Just this past week in my philosophy class we were discussing the distinctions of how men and women think and how far women have come in the past century. Our society is quickly changing. Today for every man that graduates college, three women graduate. I think women today have come so far that we don't really take offense at what some perceive as sexist. Instead women today own the terms for themselves. For example, I know myself and most all of my female friends are not offended being called the B word, heck we call ourselves that! It is definitely a different time altogether.
On the other hand, the way the "mama grizzlies" use it is not only dysfunctional but pathological in its self hate. To the extent that you alluded to that, good, interesting article. But the tie to Kanye, and from him to GWB, is misinformed.
Imagine an exchange student, say the age of your daughter who is the Hannah Montana fan. You say "Katz' pajamas" (a phrase which I just recently learned is a reference to a tailor who was the best in his profession in his time), the exchange student understands you to mean "cat's pajamas" and thereafter fears you, wondering about you sanity. That is how far the grisly mamas are from the correct meaning of the phrase "man up" which is simply about being adult and taking responsibility for one's own actions. President Obama was right, Kanye was a j-a at that one award ceremony, but he's not part of this problem.
This phrase evolves next through hip-hop/urban culture vis-a-vis its role in basketball play. To perform a difficult task expeditiously is to "Man Up" viz. Training Day, where Alonzo Harris encourages Jake Hoyt to rapidly consume the contents of a marijuana pipe by repeating "Man Up!" until Hoyt is finished.
Finally, politicians co-opt a phrase that, in all likelihood, they have learned from their children, who do listen to hip-hop, viz. Chris Christie bringing the phrase to the Republican Party when then-Governor Corzine levels unsubtle insinuations about Christie's weight. "He should just 'man up' and call me fat."
Is it ironic that the staple political cliche this season should come to us from a hip-hop allusion to basketball play? Or more so perhaps, because people think Kanye is echoing the politicians, and not the other way around?