Funny:
Via Brian Beutler. I wonder how the term "douche" came to have its present meaning. Apparently, the OED's 1967 reference has it meaning "an unattractive co-ed. By extension, any individual whom the speaker desires to deprecate."
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New Fragrance
29 Aug 2007 10:46 am
Comments (12)
that spot failed to point that those douchebags probably also enjoy copious amounts of red bull and jagermeister. "bullblasters" as it were.
Isn't frequent use of the term "douchebag" one sign that you might be a douchebag?
I'm not sure what you mean by the "present meaning" of douche--Brian Butler, linked in your post, give a 1908 example of it being used to indicate a jet of water used to clean body cavities, which I take to be its present meaning. It's no great step from that meaning to using it as an insult.
I wonder when "piece of shit" cae to have it's present meaning.
Just rewatched American Psycho (the movie version w/ Christian Bale).
That Patrick Bateman character -- THAT was a douche.
And rea wrote: "I wonder when "piece of shit" cae to have it's present meaning."
When I was in high school in the late 1990s this had become a common term of abuse. [/sarcasm]
Ahem. If I may:
douchebag (doosh-bǎg)
noun.
1. Slang A fatuous and overly stylized male.
2. A small syringe with detachable nozzles; used for vaginal lavage and enemas.
Abstract: A cultural blight of preening men seeking to recapture and supersede the flamboyance and normative focus that previously located around attractive young females. Caught up in this gender-inverted post-feminist masquerade is a confused society. For now, we face a feminized masculinity, competing with women for our societal gaze. In this way, the male masquerades under the constructs of femininity as the means to reclaim his masculinity. Which is another way of saying he's a douchebag. --Camille Paglia
See also: designer jeans, spiked hair, popped collars, Dane Cook.
For any additional examples: HotChicksWithDouchebags.com
That Paglia quote is complete and under douchery: guys have been outpeacocking chicks since time immemoriam. That video was off, too. It was making fun of yuppie, meathead, fratboy, "bro"-type dudes. Paglia's quote is referring to the (shudder) now-unnamed (due to its ubiquity) "metrosexual" fad. So basically you're all a bunch of douche-tards. Ivory tower Matt, you're way behind the curve on this one. Tell Beutler and SuperDeluxe that 2002 left them a myspace message: it wants its humor back.
Gregorio, the Paglia attribution was a joke. But you raise a valid point.
Certainly there is crossover. Douchebags and metrosexuals certainly can and do overlap. They share mutual traits of narcissism and consumerism. However, genus douchebagus displays a hypermasculinity traditionally absent from the typical metrosexual, who was really just an update on the age-old "fop". And of course, there is much regional variance; the LA sub-species often develops an allergy to shirts, the East Coast version sports an erect collar and a predilection towards the color pink. Obviously the zeitgeist allows for multiple interpretations. As you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, Gregorio, traditional norms of accepted masculinity are already somewhat skewed. A douche in Des Moines is not necessarily a douchebag in SF. Your mileage may vary.
But probably not. Probably the guy's just a douche.
we be rollin, they be hatin
Uhm, I'm the author of that quote attributed to Camille Paglia. But since my site was subsequently linked to, I guess it's okay.
There will be more, much more, on douchebaggery, in my book, which will be published by Simon & Schuster in the Spring.
(a reader tipped me off to the quote here)
- DB1
http://www.hotchickswithdouchebags.com/
Incidentally, here was the post being quoted:
http://www.hotchickswithdouchebags.com/2007/07/gilette-mach-douche.html
Can I just say, knowing that the readerships HCwDB's & MY intersect is almost too much bloggy goodness for me to handle? DB1, sir, you are pioneer. I attributed the quote to Camille Paglia only because ... well ... it's way, way funnier.
That said, this thread raises an important issue: how can one identify a definition of douche that is precise, yet still faithfully encompasses it's countless manifestations?
Without a doubt, there are shared elements of faux-macho, ostentation and excessive self-regard. But is this enough? Can one link the seemingly disparate examples of Gillette Mach Douche and Patrick Bateman? Is there a common throughline? Dane Cook and the members of Late Night Shots seem so divergent. Yet they are undeniably douchebags, both.
Is it all geosocial context? Would a Periodic Table of Douche help in these efforts? Can the components of douche be -- dare I say -- complex?
Susan Sontag would nail this sensibility in a heartbeat. But she's dead. And these guys aren't going away any time soon.
Comments closed September 12, 2007.
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Heads in the Sand
When I was in high school in NJ in the early 70s it was the very common term for anyone was just a complete a-hole.
Posted by Ethel-to-Tilly | August 29, 2007 11:05 AM