# "Man's Man": why has that phrase fallen out of favor? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 11, 2003, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-man-why-has-that-phrase-fallen-out-of-favor/206779 "2003-10-11T01:38:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nisosbar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@nisosbar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nisosbar)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-man-why-has-that-phrase-fallen-out-of-favor/206779/1 "2003-10-11T01:38:11Z")
Why has the phrase “a man’s man” fallen into disuse? What did it mean when it was popular to use it? What would someone call a “man’s man” today? ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-man-why-has-that-phrase-fallen-out-of-favor/206779/2 "2003-10-11T01:53:55Z")
Come on… I think you can figure it out! Hint, it’s the same reason people don’t use the word "gay"i in reference to happy anymore. ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-man-why-has-that-phrase-fallen-out-of-favor/206779/3 "2003-10-11T02:21:30Z")
My lesbian friends use “he’s a man’s man” all the time. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/soul_brother_number_two/32/3515_2.png) [@Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul_Brother_Number_Two)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-man-why-has-that-phrase-fallen-out-of-favor/206779/4 "2003-10-11T03:35:34Z")
A man’s man, and friend to the poor. ---
**Author:** ![sleeping](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@sleeping](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleeping)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-man-why-has-that-phrase-fallen-out-of-favor/206779/5 "2003-10-11T04:37:45Z")
Basically, as with most other labels, it’s what’s associated with it. The term has connotations of men who repress their feelings and subscribe to traditional value systems. Repression has since been shown to be harmful to a person’s mental well-being and traditional value systems have proven faulty. When the term is applied to someone, he is expected to live up to it. This can create a lot of stress for him, and it cruelly imposes a specific image on someone who does not want it. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-man-why-has-that-phrase-fallen-out-of-favor/206779/6 "2003-10-11T05:14:33Z")
23 Skidoo ---
**Author:** ![Iteki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/eada6e/32.png) [@Iteki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iteki)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-man-why-has-that-phrase-fallen-out-of-favor/206779/7 "2003-10-11T12:17:50Z")
Because nowadays it sounds less like “the kind of man that men would like to be” to sounding more like “the kind of man who likes to do men”. In case the above posts were too subtle 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Marshall07](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Marshall07](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marshall07)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-man-why-has-that-phrase-fallen-out-of-favor/206779/8 "2003-10-11T13:04:28Z")
I never use it because I want to maintain my heterosexuality hehe ---
**Author:** ![sleeping](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@sleeping](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleeping)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-man-why-has-that-phrase-fallen-out-of-favor/206779/9 "2003-10-16T03:14:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pizzabrat \* > Come on… I think you can figure it out! > > Hint, it’s the same reason people don’t use the word "gay"i in reference to happy anymore. > [@](#): > > My lesbian friends use “he’s a man’s man” all the time. … > [@](#): > > Because nowadays it sounds less like “the kind of man that men would like to be” to sounding more like “the kind of man who likes to do men”. In case the above posts were too subtle > [@](#): > > I never use it because I want to maintain my heterosexuality hehe _ **WHOOSH!** _ :: **sleeping** looks up:: :smack: :: puts on dunce cap, stands in corner:: ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-man-why-has-that-phrase-fallen-out-of-favor/206779/10 "2003-10-16T04:51:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by nisosbar \* > **What did it mean when it was popular to use it?** Just think “John Wayne” > [@](#): > > \*\*What would someone call a “man’s man” today? \*\* Don’t think “George Clooney”. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-man-why-has-that-phrase-fallen-out-of-favor/206779/11 "2003-10-16T06:40:28Z")
Once upon a time, “man’s man” or was it “gentleman’s gentleman” also meant a valet, a manservant. That was before my time, and I’m studying to be a codger. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-man-why-has-that-phrase-fallen-out-of-favor/206779/12 "2003-10-16T20:58:46Z")
I’ve always heard it used to identify a man that other men aspire to. I’ve never heard it as a gay reference, although I can see where someone would think that. Also, I wasn’t aware that people didn’t use it anymore (although I can’t think of the last time I did). Isn’t that funny how things change? A man’s man today? Hmmmm… Someone debonairre (I’m sure I spelled that wrong), handsome, devastatingly handsome… George Clooney. Or a James Bond type. ---
**Author:** ![Mukluk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b77776/32.png) [@Mukluk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mukluk)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-man-why-has-that-phrase-fallen-out-of-favor/206779/13 "2003-10-17T01:23:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sleeping \* > \*\*…traditional value systems have proven faulty. > > \*\* Really. That’s quite a finding. You wouldn’t have a cite for that would you? I must have missed it. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-man-why-has-that-phrase-fallen-out-of-favor/206779/14 "2003-10-17T14:07:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kalhoun \* > A man’s man today? Hmmmm… Someone debonairre (I’m sure I spelled that wrong), handsome, devastatingly handsome… George Clooney. Or a James Bond type. \*\* No, that would be a “ladie’s man”. A “man’s man” is someone like Adam Corrola and Jimmy Kimmel. Ted Nugent would also be a “man’s man”. So would most of your celebrity athletes. It’s a man who enjoys traditional manly values - drinking, womanizing with hot vacuous bimbos, watching sports, building shit. You know - man stuff. A “ladies man” by contrast is handsome, suave, sophiticated, attractive to the ladies. You know - gay. ---
**Author:** ![brainfizz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/da6949/32.png) [@brainfizz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainfizz)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-man-why-has-that-phrase-fallen-out-of-favor/206779/15 "2003-10-17T14:20:34Z")
No, no, no, no. A man’s man is a macho alpha male. A ladies’ man is a man that has a way with the ladies. Very often they can be one and the same. E.g. Ted Danson’s character in Cheers. Very much a man’s man, but also a ladies’ man.