Mc-Nicknames

Why Woman Sometimes Use Sexual Objectifying Terms to Refer to Men

By
Relationship Advice Expert April Masini

Q: Dear April Masini,

My girlfriend and her friends have recently been participating in the "male nickname craze" made so popular by the TV show, Grey's Anatomy. You know, any hot guy is a McDreamy, McSteamy, McSexy, etc. I guess I'm used to my guy friends doing this. If one of us has a crush on a girl we'll call her "blue eyes" or refer to her by some distinguishing feature, rather than her name. But I haven't heard girls doing it until the show started. What's with this? Why do girls think every hot guy is a Mc-somebody now?

Sincerely,

Mc-What?

A:

Dear Mc-What?,

Your girlfriend and her friends are doing what the women on Grey's Anatomy do and what men have done for ages: They give men names to objectify them. By giving a person a nickname that implies sexuality, like McDreamy or McSteamy, the women are giving these men the Mc prefix -- like in McDonald's, a restaurant that has come to signify mass production -- and Dreamy or Steamy -- both sexual objectifying terms that women use for men. The combos, McDreamy and McSteamy, connote just another very sexy guy.

Why women give men these nicknames:

Women do this because the name of the person is very personal, and by using their actual names, they are closer to the person and their own feelings than by making up and using a nickname. Men usually do this with women, historically, because they are afraid of rejection, so they give a woman they want a nickname, so that when they are, or if they have been, rejected by her, they can distance themselves from the feelings of rejection. If they say that they were rejected by so and so, and use her actual name, they subject themselves to the reality of the situation, and it's pain.

Women have only recently started giving men nicknames to objectify them, and simultaneously distance themselves from them, as they take on more male roles in society.

April Masini -- nicknamed "the new millennium's Dear Abby" by the media, is author of the best-selling books Date Out Of Your League and Think & Date Like A Man, the two (just released) step-by-step dating and relationship manuals, Ideas for a Fun Date and Romantic Date Ideas, and the critically acclaimed dating and relationship online magazine www.AskApril.com.

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