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Going back

Posted by R. Berg on January 28, 2004

In Reply to: Going back posted by Henry 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.

: There's also the retrosexual, who has relations with ex-partners more than is seemly.

"The discovery of a ritual burial suggests they believed in an Afterlife": I think some anthropologist has made an unwarranted cognitive jump. Many modern humans who don't believe in an afterlife nevertheless hold funerals and memorial services, order headstones for their relatives, and in other ways honor the dead.

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