Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/134350
The Art of Manliness Continued The Purpose and Function of Nicknames Within All-Male Groups At their core, group nicknames are boundary-defining and boundary-maintaining mechanisms that draw a line both between who is in a group of men and who is out, and between that group and the outside world. How Nicknames Set a Group and Its Members Apart JOBS for TEAMS Group nicknames thrive within small, insular tribes, gangs, and teams of men who experience regular face-to-face contact, and especially among those male groups which share in a common purpose and set of risks, and together must tackle difficult challenges.Think of military units, criminal organizations like the Mafia, motorcycle gangs, football teams, pioneering and adventure expeditions, and men whose employment isolates them from the outside world (miners, loggers, etc.). Men have a desire to feel that our group is tighter and better than other groups in the same category.And so the cohesiveness of these kinds of male groups is driven by an "us versus them" mentality — we band of brothers against the outside world. Part of what creates this distinct sense of "us" is the use of names known only to each other. Nicknames create a special language that outsiders aren't privy to (in addition to nicknaming other group members, men, especially in the military, come up with their own names for their equipment, living quarters, and so on). Even if an outsider knows what a group member's nickname is, he also knows he dare not use it to address him without causing offense – that privilege is reserved for his comrades. Nicknames not only set a group apart from the outside world by creating a special language, they also foster a distinct identity for the group and its members. In religious rituals in which an initiate is inducted into a priesthood or order, they are often given a new name to signify their new life and the new behaviors that will be expected of them. In receiving a new name, you become part of a new "family." In the same way, a nickname helps you shed the expectations tied to your given name for a time, and settle into your role in the group. For example, Army Lt. Mike Smith may be a gentle, happy husband and father of three when he's home in Ohio, but when he's stationed at a remote outpost in Afghanistan, he's a different guy, with a different name, a different family, and a different code. How Nicknames Indicate a Man's Status and Inclusion in a Group While nicknames separate a group from the outside world, they also demarcate the status of an individual man within that group — whether he is an accepted, respected, and integrated member of the group, or sits on the periphery. The interesting thing about nicknames is that while derisive nicknames used behind someone's back are utilized to shame someone in a community and designate them as an outsider, mocking nicknames (and in most male groups, nicknames are) are given to members of all male-groups to mark them as an insider.What explains this seeming paradox? Nicknames are usually first given to guys who are sitting on the "bubble" of the group.The other members aren't quite sure about him, and throwing out the nickname is a way of feeling the guy out. If he demonstrates he can goodnaturedly accept an insulting nickname from his fellow members, he proves that | 20 JobsForTeams0613_manliness.indd 3 www.jobsforteams.com 5/7/13 11:07 AM