Some of the portmaneteau's I can remember here are:
- manbag, or "murse" to describe any kind of satchel or bag that a guy happens to carry. It's apparently very important to make sure people know it is NOT a purse, but is in fact a man purse (hence "murse") or manbag (a play on handbag).
- Manorexia - male anorexia - is one that I find particularly bothersome. The disorder is not distinct or that much different just because a man happens to experience it. In fact, I feel that buy giving it a certain term when men experience it, there is a furthering of the idea that Anorexia is innately a female disease when it clearly is not.
- "Murse", though sometimes used to refer to a man purse, is also a term for male nurses. I guess the term nurse in itself is too innately feminine to be used for men, and saying male nurse is highly difficult.
- "Brony" - a portmanteau of bro and pony, to describe male fans of My Little Pony. The Brony trend in its entirety is actually very interesting, but in particular because it is a movement of men who gather around what has always traditionally been a show for young girls.
Other terms I've heard pop up on several occasions:
- bromance - to describe two men who have a close / loving friendship. This term could pretty much only exist in response to an anxious masculinity that needs to label a certain degree of friendship between men as exceptional, and sometimes worthy of derision.
- mancrush - similar to bromance, though this is sometimes used to describe situations in which men really admire or appreciate one man in particular, in a way that is either perceived as slightly erotic / romantic in its intensity, or is in fact erotic and a byproduct of homosexual attraction.
Can you think of any other portmanteau's that have been created to describe men and masculinity?
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