Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/134350
Manliness The Art of By Brett & Kate McKay, courtesy of www.artofmanliess.com Of Men and Nicknames B JOBS for TEAMS ack in high school, my close male friends called me "Mama McKay." It started out as a way to poke fun at my tendency to make sure everyone was taken care of and for being the guy who'd say "Fellas, maybe we shouldn't be doing this," whenever we were about to take part in some potentially dangerous or criminal teenage hijinks. The nickname rubbed me the wrong way at first, but I soon accepted it and even became a little proud of it. We had nicknames for other guys in the group as well. We called one guy "Crip" because when he first started hanging out with us, he had a foot in a cast and was on crutches. For a long time, we didn't even know his real name. It was just Crip.There were other nicknames that were designed to infantilize and emasculate. When we found out that "Drew Bear" was the pet name my best friend Andrew's mom had for him, we started calling him that first as a joke, and the name stuck. Another guy was "Indian Princess." I don't even remember how that one was coined. On the football team, especially among the linemen, nicknames abounded. We called one big guy "Happy Fat" because he was, well, happy and fat. Another guy we called "Squints" because his cheeks were so fat it looked like he was squinting all the time.Then there was "Donuts." He liked donuts. A lot. An unspoken rule about all these mocking monikers us guys had for each other was that only guys in the "gang," could call each other by their respective nicknames. If an outsider tried to use the name, they'd be given the cold shoulder or simply told outright to "Shut the hell up." While this very distinctly male ritual might seem sort of silly and superficial, the practice of nicknaming has been studied by anthropologists and sociologists, and can in fact offer some fascinating insights into manliness and the bonds between men. What Are Nicknames? The word nickname comes from the Middle English "eke name," or extra name. Nicknames are names that are substituted for a given name but have not been legalized. While using someone's given name and title shows deference and respect, using their nickname is an informal form of address. In small communities, derisive nicknames are often used to refer to people behind their backs, and the nicknamed individual may not even know about the epithet. Other nicknames are used to refer to or address someone directly. These fall into several categories: Referential nickname. These are nicknames bestowed on public figures, and are often used to refer to politicians and sports figures. For example Andrew Jackson was known as "Old Hickory" and Winston Churchill was called "The British Bulldog."And of course in times past evocative | 16 JobsForTeams0613_manliness.indd 1 www.jobsforteams.com 5/7/13 11:06 AM