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Are these new terms?

Posted by Shae on January 28, 2004

In Reply to: Are these new terms? posted by Smokey Stover on January 28, 2004

: : I collected a couple of terms that are new to me on an online discussion forum. The posters believe they originated the following:

: : NEANDERSEXUAL - A traditional male - the polar opposite of metrosexual.

: : RECIDIVIST RELATIONSHIP -- Going back to an old boyfriend or girlfriend.

: Neandersexual. Is this new? Well, I haven't seen it before, and I hope not to see it again. Obviously the term is intended to suggest a sexually primitive beetle-browed early man that is anything but sapiens (Neanderthal, a designation of certain early hominids based on remains found in the valley of the Neander River). We are supposed to believe that Neanderthal men were sexual primitives, cave men armed with clubs dragging their women by the hair. Is that what is meant by a "traditional male"? Since we know virtually nothing about the sexual behavior of early man, I think it is not only an inappropriate coinage, but suggests a deep ignorance on the part of the coiner. SS

Yes, it's unfortunate that this perception of Neanderthal man persists. Homo sapiens Neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens sapiens are subspecies of the same organism. Their brains were actually larger than those of modern man. The discovery of a ritual burial suggests they believed in an Afterlife and, therefore, must have had a language with which to communicate abstract concepts.

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