# Origin of "Jungle Fever"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 6, 2017, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-jungle-fever/788225 "2017-06-06T00:04:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-jungle-fever/788225/41 "2017-06-08T15:36:44Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Black men may have VERY different reactions to being perceived by white girls as animalistic, super-virile, hypersexual jungle savages in the bedroom. Some, like Morris Day (apparently) revel in that stereotype, and are only too happy to tell white women, “I’ll rape and ravage you in a way your tame, boring white husband never could.” > > But as I mentioned earlier, in “Invisble Man,” Ralph Ellison’s protagonist is horrified and insulted (and a bit amused) by the married white woman who tries to seduce him, since she doesn’t really know or care abut HIM, per se. Rather she fantasizes about being taken against her will (but not really!) by a savage black male, and regards him as the fulfillment of that fantasy. To Ellison, that kind of stereotyping is exactly what makes his hero “invisible.” NOBODY sees him as a real individual- only as the embodiment of an idea they already had. Absolutely agreed. I do believe, though, that this indicates that the descriptor “jungle” for Black/other relationships precedes the Spike Lee film. Most of the people participating in this thread (I believe) are white and generally liberal; it may have been a more common term among those more concerned with race matters, ie the African-American and explicitly racist communities, both of whom would have more reason to discuss interracial relationships on a regular basis than the rest of the folks. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-jungle-fever/788225/42 "2017-06-09T01:14:17Z")
> [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](#): > > Absolutely agreed. I do believe, though, that this indicates that the descriptor “jungle” for Black/other relationships precedes the Spike Lee film. Most of the people participating in this thread (I believe) are white and generally liberal; it may have been a more common term among those more concerned with race matters, ie the African-American and explicitly racist communities, both of whom would have more reason to discuss interracial relationships on a regular basis than the rest of the folks. As noted earlier in the thread, the word comes from Hindi, and it came into English via the British encounter with India. Most of the early appearances of the word in English texts are in texts dealing with India. By the mid-nineteenth century it was being used with reference to other places - the Middle East, Southern Africa and even (figuratively) England. The earliest usages that may refer particularly to African-Americans seem to be from the early twentieth century; "jungle’ became a slang term for a hoboes’ camp, though this could be either because many hoboes were black, or simply because the camp as seen as a chaotic and lawless place. However, shortly after that you have the emergence of terms like “jungle music”, a derogatory term for jazz, and that’s definitely a racial reference. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-jungle-fever/788225/43 "2017-06-09T12:53:00Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I’ve always assumed the term comes from this connection, that black people are from the jungle. See the term “jungle bunny” for black person, for example. Or a parallel construction in the term “yellow fever” (Asian fetishization.) Huh. I never knew ‘Yellow Fever’ meant anything more than a term for a mosquito-borne viral fever that causes (amongst other symptoms) jaundice in its victims. Ignorance fought. Albeit that this other usage of the term isn’t very useful to me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-jungle-fever/788225.md?page=2)