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When I was on tour recently, riding through new mexico and colorado with 3 male musicians, the linguistics of our many conversations progressively (or maybe regressively) took on a very masculine tone. it can’t be helped, I thought, it’s 3 against one. and a little one at that. it occurred to me at some point--maybe while tony was finishing off his nipple mountain sandwich he bought at a colorado tackle shop--that our language is dotted with male-body referencing adjectival /adverbial phrases. [...it’s been so long since I found out what people mean by down-and-out...] led zep line from "black dog" dubbed and repeated several times Yes, it finally hit me. To be down-and-out is to be depressed, unlucky, --something along those lines. But where did this phrase actually derive from? Ahh- I see it! To be down-and-out means literally erectionless and not screwing. A down-and-out man is "not getting any! Life is hard, but you’re not." Which contrasts with the accepted and much-used phrase of up-and-coming! Ahh- the pattern reveals itself and the blanket of linguistical fog lifts to show masculine referencing at the crux of our evolving american idiom(s). We’ve heard it over and over, in music reviews, sports reports, and I bet even ole morley shafer has uttered the phrase: "the up and coming rock singer axl rose has maintained his rising star status and his contributions to rock and roll have spilled over to the tops of the charts...Axl, keep it up!" [voice like barroom/locker room male-pig talk: huh, huh, keep it up, oh uh, uh, uh, huh-huh, oooh-hooooo! (grunts) keep it up!, huh!] The metaphor continues. We hear "on the up and up" and "out of pocket" and now i’m fearing that I can’t use these terms without seeing the male body reference on my mental visual screen. I panic. Is it correct or appropriate to use these phrases in association with women? I certainly can’t say that L7 is an up-and-coming band, can I? Not unless they’re multi-orgasming on the tip of the eiffel tower. If Madonna goes broke, will we refer to her as down-and-out? Feminist linguists, take note and get busy! Well, that’s my piece I wanted to put out. I hope you likeclit. |
