A Glossary for the Nineties: Chapter 2 - Sex and gender
[Taken from A Glossary for the Nineties, by David Rowan (Prion Books, 1998), based on the column of that name in The Guardian's Weekend magazine through most of the 1990s. © David Rowan]
CHAPTER 2: SEX AND GENDER
Boys, girls, and that whole reproductive business
ANDROPAUSAL adj. The male equivalent of menopausal, a term just reaching the mainstream language from chemical-pathology journals. The andropause is that mid-life period which sends some men into a crisis. Now it has been spotted even in Vanity Fair: a proof of a further victory for manism (qv).
BATMOBILE v. In a relationship, to build barriers designed to keep your emotions hidden. Named after the metal plating on Batman's car that springs up whenever he is vulnerable. The Economist reports a usage example: "She started talking marriage and he started batmobiling . . ."
BINRAKE v. sl. To trawl around a dance-floor at the end of an unsuccessful night's cruising, in a last-minute bid to attract even the least desirable partner. It's gay slang, particularly popular in Edinburgh.
BITCH n. Woman, in a non-pejorative sense. Huh? Well, ask feminists such as Elizabeth Hilts, whose book Getting In Touch With Your Inner Bitch has led the movement to reclaim an otherwise derogatory term. "The bitch," she points out, "is the Bette Davis in each of us. Stop apologising for her. Set her free!" (See also queer .)
BLOKEDOM n. That place inhabited by those readers of Loaded, Nick Hornby books, and everyone else indentified in recent years as New Lads, Soft Lads, or any other label that justifies more traditional male thinking.
BOBBITT n. sl. As defined by Anne Seaton, of Chambers Dictionary, this is "a woman's violent and vengeful removal of her partner's penis. Perhaps one might call it 'depenistration'." It's also now being extended to mean metaphorically cutting someone down: the Washington Times praised George Bush for "the bobbitting of both Saddam Hussein and Manuel Noriega". The term is named for John Wayne Bobbitt, whose wife Lorena most famously wielded the knife. And boy, did he feel cut up about it . . .
CHICKENHEAD sl. n. An unattractive young woman, in US black street slang. Also known as KFC brand chickenheads - and subdivided into extra spicy (ugly, but dressed fashionably), and original recipe (ugly, and dressed badly). And you thought smackin' bitches up was non-PC...
CROTCH ROCK n. mus. The branch of heavy-metal music known for the strong sexual element of its performances. If the band is all-woman, its hardcore music has a more specific label: fox-core.
CRUSH FETISHIST n. A late nineties form of sexual fetishism. According to Web sites like "Exclusively Crushing", practitioners like watching "gorgeous women's feet stomping [on] . . . everything from food to cigarettes and insects". Whatever turns you on.
CUPCAKE n. sl. A male homosexual, in current prison slang - and if that doesn't suit your prejudice, try chutney ferret, clockwork orange, turd burglar, pillow biter and batty boy. And for those who are un-decided, there's the half-iron, a heterosexual who associates with homosexuals (iron hoof rhymes with poof). Collected by Angela Devlin for her book Prison Patter, published by Waterside Press.
DE FACTO n. Another contender to describe a partner you're not formally married to. It's most common in Australia, but has been heading closer to home. No wonder: friend, special friend and partner never quite worked, and that American invention POSSLQ was hardly destined to catch on - that, as the US Census Bureau put it, means a "Person of the Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters". Snappy.
DOWNDATE v. To seek a partner below one's expectations, because forming a relationship is just so darned difficult these days. Currently heard on numerous local-radio problem hours. Not to be confused with downshifting (qv) - the act of reducing one's expenditure and simplifying one's lifestyle in order to step aside from the rat-race - although the two trends may be linked: no wonder no one will date you if home-made muesli pie is your idea of a cheap yet nourishing romantic dinner . . .
EMBRYO ABUSE n. How the "pro-life" movement describes in-vitro fertilisation and other reproductive technologies that may lead to some fertilised eggs being discarded. Other emotive terms are popular - from human vivisection to lethal discrimination against the unborn. Needless to say, practitioners of this technology have their own euphemisms: if additional embryos result from assisted conception, a surgeon will talk of selective pregnancy reduction, or even selective survival.
ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION n. The politically acceptable way to describe those sexual difficulties that may prevent a man, let's say, from rising to the occasion. For, according to a US government panel, "impotence engenders helplessness".
FARMERETTE n., f A female farmer, according to the organisers of Ireland's national ploughing championships in Tipperary. Dublin's Council for the Status of Women weren't too happy and demanded a change. But farmerette was given official backing. Prizes for the first citing of shepherdette.
FUCK-IN-LAW n. Someone who has had sex with someone you have had sex with. This new relationship was brought to you by the age of Aids awareness; although we still await the customised Hallmark greetings cards.
GENDER CREEP n. The gradual absorption of feminist values into mainstream culture. Feminists and scholars are using the term to describe the "silent revolution" by which election results, workplace practice, even the rise of daytime TV presenters are being determined by women's new power.
GENDER-INCLUSIVE adj. Language (typically) designed not to offend the sensitivities of men or women. Oxford University Press's "gender-inclusive" Bible, for instance, talks about "Father-Mother" God - which has tended to offend just about everybody . . .
GENDER PERFORMATIVITY n. What you have if you reject conventional ways of defining your sexuality, refusing to be "hetero-", "homo-" or "bi-", but (according to today's postmodern requirements) express your sexuality through manner and style. No doubt some of your best friends are gender performatists.
GIRL POWER n. Hardline feminism, as defined by those leading post-suffragettes, the Spice Girls. Its precise meaning: "buy our records".
GLASS CEILING n. The barrier that faces nineties working women, through which they can see, but never seem to attain, their career goals. Identified by the Hansard Society, a movement to promote equal opportunity, which fears that although the law is supposed to remove the barriers to women's progress, invisible prejudices are placed in their way.
HASBIAN n. sl. A former lesbian who is now in a heterosexual relationship. As defined in Psychology Today.
HET UP v. To tone down the homosexual content of a publication, television programme, etc., in order not to alienate the heterosexual audience. The term came to prominence when a former editor of GQ magazine was revealed to have been hetting up his publication by reducing the hunky-torso quota.
HITTIN' THE SKINS sl. Getting naked - the most up-to-the-moment euphemism for the sexual act, according to Entertainment Monitor magazine. It also points out that horny means ready for sex, and your booty refers to your buttocks. Bound to come in useful in certain situations.
HUMAN HEN n. A woman who sells her eggs which, via infertility clinics, eventually hatch as human beings. A not entirely flattering phrase in the current embryology debate.
INFANTILISM n. The sexual practice that seeks to recreate the early childhood thrill of "total incontinence": infantilists pursue their fetish at parties where they put nappies on each other.
LESBEING n. The new gender identity currently challenging the hegemony of lesbian, a hot debate in lesbian-studies faculties. It's something to do with actively living the role. And, excuse the phrase, it's what the academics typify as the "exhilarating gender-fuck of queer politics".
LIPSTICK LESBIAN n. They're chic, glamorous, and flaunt their sexuality. Homosexuality, that is - still, the media boys have become turned on to bands such as Fem 2 Fem, singing their subversive message: "Switch, bitch, it feels good."
LUG n. What today's gender-correct American woman tends to be: Lesbian Until Graduation. The word has spread as lesbian culture has hit the US mainstream since the mid-nineties. And now the dictionaries have acknowledged this contemporary life-cycle lifestyle.
LUNCHBOX n. That area of a man's anatomy which is accentuated when he wears tight shorts - as in "Linford's lunchbox", the revealing running shorts favoured by athletic Mr Christie. Jacobs, the cream-cracker people, have been advertising a double-entendre play on the phrase: a biscuit described as "every man's dream: an extra one-and-a-half inches in the lunchbox department".
MANISM n. The men's movement's new ideology that seeks to stand up to feminism. It argues that men as a group have rights that must be spoken up for. Particularly favoured by those reeling from harsh divorce settlements or the CSA.
MSM n. init. Homosexuals, as described by Barnet Healthcare NHS Trust. That's Men who have Sex with Men, as explained in a Guardian advertisement the trust placed for Aids education field workers. The advert clarifies that the field worker will "conduct field work in identified Public Sex Environments", which it helpfully reminds applicants is, of course, another way of talking about PSEs. Don't worry if you missed the ad: needless to say, there were plenty of extended commentaries on it in
the tabloids.
MUM n. sl. An unattractive woman, according to dealing-room slang circulating in the City of London. As opposed to a babe, who is one considered to be rather desirable, or a woman who tends to support feminist causes - known, rather quaintly, as a lesbian.
PG n. init. Someone who is Probably Gay, as revealed by Cosmopolitan magazine's guide for single women to help them identify suitable dating fodder.
PHALLOCENTRIC COCKOCRACY n. The ultimate target for the attacks of extremist nineties feminists, as identified by the Spectator magazine. Until we hear of Hillary Clinton establishing a Phallocentric Cockocracy Working Party, we will presume they were joking; but you never know.
PINK POUND n. The spending power of gay people. It's not that their pounds ar any different from straight people's - more that they have rather a lot of them, and are keen to dispense them wherever entrepreneurs provide quality gay-specific goods and services.
PRE-EMBRYO n. A young human embryo, a term invented by practitioners of the new reproductive technologies to fight off the emotional claims of the "pro-life" movement. It's a cold, scientific word designed to differentiate the young embryo from the "living" embryo and so make it acceptable to use in research. (See also embryo abuse.)
QUEER adj. A term meaning gay that is no longer considered offensive - at least, not if it's uttered by someone who is queer. It's part of a process whereby groups reclaim words previously considered offensive; a similar process took place among black people for the word nigger. But do be careful about using the terms if you're an outsider.
QUEERARCHY n. The elite setting the pace of a self-proclaimed gay culture, labelled Queer or New Queer. The Queerarchy is said to encompass heroes such as Derek Jarman, Jean Cocteau and now Madonna. But critics say the culture is nostalgic, anti-woman and does nothing for the cause.
RICE QUEEN n. sl. In current gay slang, this is a man attracted by Oriental men; not to be confused with a snow queen, one who prefers white men. And a checker-board? Easy: that's one who is atttracted both to black and white.
RUMPTY n. What used to be called nookie, rumpy pumpy and steamy sex sessions. Yes, the tabloids' latest subtle code word to indicate sexual activity. As in "Mike Reid back for rumpty with Babs" (The Sun).
SEX-CONFIRMATION OPERATION n. You might call it a sex-change operation, but Don Laub has his own phrase. Dr Laub, a Californian surgeon who's performed 600 of the things, has a mission to confirm your identity. No cutting remarks, now.
SNAG n. acr. A Sensitive New-Age Guy. John Updike used it in a recent New Yorker review of a book with a long title about sex, shopping and the novel. So it must exist.
SNSM n. abbr. A Single Non-Smoking Male, in the language of the small ads for those seeking to down-, or up-, date (qv). You'll also need to know that a DPF is a Divorced Professional Female. The language of love, so to speak.
TRANSGENDERISTn. Someone who occupies that place between conventional male and female where increasing numbers of westerners are living. Typically his (the male pronoun is generally used) breasts and womb will have been removed but he will not have had phalloplasty.
UNGENDERED adj. A term, like gender-inclusive (qv) , for the language we are being encouraged to use to avoid offending people. Popular particularly among the most politically sensitive academics, whose texts must be inoffensive first and readable last, ungendered language has been treated to ensure that it excludes any gender references at all.
CHAPTER 2: SEX AND GENDER
Boys, girls, and that whole reproductive business
ANDROPAUSAL adj. The male equivalent of menopausal, a term just reaching the mainstream language from chemical-pathology journals. The andropause is that mid-life period which sends some men into a crisis. Now it has been spotted even in Vanity Fair: a proof of a further victory for manism (qv).
BATMOBILE v. In a relationship, to build barriers designed to keep your emotions hidden. Named after the metal plating on Batman's car that springs up whenever he is vulnerable. The Economist reports a usage example: "She started talking marriage and he started batmobiling . . ."
BINRAKE v. sl. To trawl around a dance-floor at the end of an unsuccessful night's cruising, in a last-minute bid to attract even the least desirable partner. It's gay slang, particularly popular in Edinburgh.
BITCH n. Woman, in a non-pejorative sense. Huh? Well, ask feminists such as Elizabeth Hilts, whose book Getting In Touch With Your Inner Bitch has led the movement to reclaim an otherwise derogatory term. "The bitch," she points out, "is the Bette Davis in each of us. Stop apologising for her. Set her free!" (See also queer .)
BLOKEDOM n. That place inhabited by those readers of Loaded, Nick Hornby books, and everyone else indentified in recent years as New Lads, Soft Lads, or any other label that justifies more traditional male thinking.
BOBBITT n. sl. As defined by Anne Seaton, of Chambers Dictionary, this is "a woman's violent and vengeful removal of her partner's penis. Perhaps one might call it 'depenistration'." It's also now being extended to mean metaphorically cutting someone down: the Washington Times praised George Bush for "the bobbitting of both Saddam Hussein and Manuel Noriega". The term is named for John Wayne Bobbitt, whose wife Lorena most famously wielded the knife. And boy, did he feel cut up about it . . .
CHICKENHEAD sl. n. An unattractive young woman, in US black street slang. Also known as KFC brand chickenheads - and subdivided into extra spicy (ugly, but dressed fashionably), and original recipe (ugly, and dressed badly). And you thought smackin' bitches up was non-PC...
CROTCH ROCK n. mus. The branch of heavy-metal music known for the strong sexual element of its performances. If the band is all-woman, its hardcore music has a more specific label: fox-core.
CRUSH FETISHIST n. A late nineties form of sexual fetishism. According to Web sites like "Exclusively Crushing", practitioners like watching "gorgeous women's feet stomping [on] . . . everything from food to cigarettes and insects". Whatever turns you on.
CUPCAKE n. sl. A male homosexual, in current prison slang - and if that doesn't suit your prejudice, try chutney ferret, clockwork orange, turd burglar, pillow biter and batty boy. And for those who are un-decided, there's the half-iron, a heterosexual who associates with homosexuals (iron hoof rhymes with poof). Collected by Angela Devlin for her book Prison Patter, published by Waterside Press.
DE FACTO n. Another contender to describe a partner you're not formally married to. It's most common in Australia, but has been heading closer to home. No wonder: friend, special friend and partner never quite worked, and that American invention POSSLQ was hardly destined to catch on - that, as the US Census Bureau put it, means a "Person of the Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters". Snappy.
DOWNDATE v. To seek a partner below one's expectations, because forming a relationship is just so darned difficult these days. Currently heard on numerous local-radio problem hours. Not to be confused with downshifting (qv) - the act of reducing one's expenditure and simplifying one's lifestyle in order to step aside from the rat-race - although the two trends may be linked: no wonder no one will date you if home-made muesli pie is your idea of a cheap yet nourishing romantic dinner . . .
EMBRYO ABUSE n. How the "pro-life" movement describes in-vitro fertilisation and other reproductive technologies that may lead to some fertilised eggs being discarded. Other emotive terms are popular - from human vivisection to lethal discrimination against the unborn. Needless to say, practitioners of this technology have their own euphemisms: if additional embryos result from assisted conception, a surgeon will talk of selective pregnancy reduction, or even selective survival.
ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION n. The politically acceptable way to describe those sexual difficulties that may prevent a man, let's say, from rising to the occasion. For, according to a US government panel, "impotence engenders helplessness".
FARMERETTE n., f A female farmer, according to the organisers of Ireland's national ploughing championships in Tipperary. Dublin's Council for the Status of Women weren't too happy and demanded a change. But farmerette was given official backing. Prizes for the first citing of shepherdette.
FUCK-IN-LAW n. Someone who has had sex with someone you have had sex with. This new relationship was brought to you by the age of Aids awareness; although we still await the customised Hallmark greetings cards.
GENDER CREEP n. The gradual absorption of feminist values into mainstream culture. Feminists and scholars are using the term to describe the "silent revolution" by which election results, workplace practice, even the rise of daytime TV presenters are being determined by women's new power.
GENDER-INCLUSIVE adj. Language (typically) designed not to offend the sensitivities of men or women. Oxford University Press's "gender-inclusive" Bible, for instance, talks about "Father-Mother" God - which has tended to offend just about everybody . . .
GENDER PERFORMATIVITY n. What you have if you reject conventional ways of defining your sexuality, refusing to be "hetero-", "homo-" or "bi-", but (according to today's postmodern requirements) express your sexuality through manner and style. No doubt some of your best friends are gender performatists.
GIRL POWER n. Hardline feminism, as defined by those leading post-suffragettes, the Spice Girls. Its precise meaning: "buy our records".
GLASS CEILING n. The barrier that faces nineties working women, through which they can see, but never seem to attain, their career goals. Identified by the Hansard Society, a movement to promote equal opportunity, which fears that although the law is supposed to remove the barriers to women's progress, invisible prejudices are placed in their way.
HASBIAN n. sl. A former lesbian who is now in a heterosexual relationship. As defined in Psychology Today.
HET UP v. To tone down the homosexual content of a publication, television programme, etc., in order not to alienate the heterosexual audience. The term came to prominence when a former editor of GQ magazine was revealed to have been hetting up his publication by reducing the hunky-torso quota.
HITTIN' THE SKINS sl. Getting naked - the most up-to-the-moment euphemism for the sexual act, according to Entertainment Monitor magazine. It also points out that horny means ready for sex, and your booty refers to your buttocks. Bound to come in useful in certain situations.
HUMAN HEN n. A woman who sells her eggs which, via infertility clinics, eventually hatch as human beings. A not entirely flattering phrase in the current embryology debate.
INFANTILISM n. The sexual practice that seeks to recreate the early childhood thrill of "total incontinence": infantilists pursue their fetish at parties where they put nappies on each other.
LESBEING n. The new gender identity currently challenging the hegemony of lesbian, a hot debate in lesbian-studies faculties. It's something to do with actively living the role. And, excuse the phrase, it's what the academics typify as the "exhilarating gender-fuck of queer politics".
LIPSTICK LESBIAN n. They're chic, glamorous, and flaunt their sexuality. Homosexuality, that is - still, the media boys have become turned on to bands such as Fem 2 Fem, singing their subversive message: "Switch, bitch, it feels good."
LUG n. What today's gender-correct American woman tends to be: Lesbian Until Graduation. The word has spread as lesbian culture has hit the US mainstream since the mid-nineties. And now the dictionaries have acknowledged this contemporary life-cycle lifestyle.
LUNCHBOX n. That area of a man's anatomy which is accentuated when he wears tight shorts - as in "Linford's lunchbox", the revealing running shorts favoured by athletic Mr Christie. Jacobs, the cream-cracker people, have been advertising a double-entendre play on the phrase: a biscuit described as "every man's dream: an extra one-and-a-half inches in the lunchbox department".
MANISM n. The men's movement's new ideology that seeks to stand up to feminism. It argues that men as a group have rights that must be spoken up for. Particularly favoured by those reeling from harsh divorce settlements or the CSA.
MSM n. init. Homosexuals, as described by Barnet Healthcare NHS Trust. That's Men who have Sex with Men, as explained in a Guardian advertisement the trust placed for Aids education field workers. The advert clarifies that the field worker will "conduct field work in identified Public Sex Environments", which it helpfully reminds applicants is, of course, another way of talking about PSEs. Don't worry if you missed the ad: needless to say, there were plenty of extended commentaries on it in
the tabloids.
MUM n. sl. An unattractive woman, according to dealing-room slang circulating in the City of London. As opposed to a babe, who is one considered to be rather desirable, or a woman who tends to support feminist causes - known, rather quaintly, as a lesbian.
PG n. init. Someone who is Probably Gay, as revealed by Cosmopolitan magazine's guide for single women to help them identify suitable dating fodder.
PHALLOCENTRIC COCKOCRACY n. The ultimate target for the attacks of extremist nineties feminists, as identified by the Spectator magazine. Until we hear of Hillary Clinton establishing a Phallocentric Cockocracy Working Party, we will presume they were joking; but you never know.
PINK POUND n. The spending power of gay people. It's not that their pounds ar any different from straight people's - more that they have rather a lot of them, and are keen to dispense them wherever entrepreneurs provide quality gay-specific goods and services.
PRE-EMBRYO n. A young human embryo, a term invented by practitioners of the new reproductive technologies to fight off the emotional claims of the "pro-life" movement. It's a cold, scientific word designed to differentiate the young embryo from the "living" embryo and so make it acceptable to use in research. (See also embryo abuse.)
QUEER adj. A term meaning gay that is no longer considered offensive - at least, not if it's uttered by someone who is queer. It's part of a process whereby groups reclaim words previously considered offensive; a similar process took place among black people for the word nigger. But do be careful about using the terms if you're an outsider.
QUEERARCHY n. The elite setting the pace of a self-proclaimed gay culture, labelled Queer or New Queer. The Queerarchy is said to encompass heroes such as Derek Jarman, Jean Cocteau and now Madonna. But critics say the culture is nostalgic, anti-woman and does nothing for the cause.
RICE QUEEN n. sl. In current gay slang, this is a man attracted by Oriental men; not to be confused with a snow queen, one who prefers white men. And a checker-board? Easy: that's one who is atttracted both to black and white.
RUMPTY n. What used to be called nookie, rumpy pumpy and steamy sex sessions. Yes, the tabloids' latest subtle code word to indicate sexual activity. As in "Mike Reid back for rumpty with Babs" (The Sun).
SEX-CONFIRMATION OPERATION n. You might call it a sex-change operation, but Don Laub has his own phrase. Dr Laub, a Californian surgeon who's performed 600 of the things, has a mission to confirm your identity. No cutting remarks, now.
SNAG n. acr. A Sensitive New-Age Guy. John Updike used it in a recent New Yorker review of a book with a long title about sex, shopping and the novel. So it must exist.
SNSM n. abbr. A Single Non-Smoking Male, in the language of the small ads for those seeking to down-, or up-, date (qv). You'll also need to know that a DPF is a Divorced Professional Female. The language of love, so to speak.
TRANSGENDERISTn. Someone who occupies that place between conventional male and female where increasing numbers of westerners are living. Typically his (the male pronoun is generally used) breasts and womb will have been removed but he will not have had phalloplasty.
UNGENDERED adj. A term, like gender-inclusive (qv) , for the language we are being encouraged to use to avoid offending people. Popular particularly among the most politically sensitive academics, whose texts must be inoffensive first and readable last, ungendered language has been treated to ensure that it excludes any gender references at all.
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