“Cuck,” short for “cuckold,” has become the insult of choice in this surreal political season, at least amongst alt-rightists and anime Nazis and other elements of Donald Trump’s political army.
The insult, inspired by a specialized porn genre in which white “hotwives” have sex with black men while their white “cuckold” husbands watch, is intended to suggest not just emasculation but also a kind of racial treason. Or at least that’s what the insult originally meant; at this point it gets thrown at anyone and everyone who stands in the way of the Trump revolution — including women, who by definition can’t be “cucked.”
The people who are most fond of this insult seem to think it has some sort of magical power. In a recent post on the alt-right site The Right Stuff, a guy who calls himself Auschwitz Soccer Ref declares that, in the word “cuck,” he and his comrades had found a sort of right-wing version of “racist,” which he describes as “a powerful, weaponized term” that leftists use to take down, well, racists like him.
The word “cuck” is an “absolutely devastating” insult, he explains.
“Cuck” works for the same reason that “racist” works: it is an irrational word that cannot be deconstructed with reasoning. Just as “racist” hits rightists hard because it attempts to psychopathologize the healthy preference for our own race, “cuck” is devastating to leftists because they are being described as the most humiliating kind of man possible, one who gets aroused by letting another man—or other men—have sex with his wife.
There’s only one problem with Mr. Soccer Ref’s theory: “cuck” isn’t “devastating to leftists,” or indeed to any white dude who isn’t pathologically preoccupied with the specter of black (or Muslim, or Mexican) men having sex with “our” white women. In other words, “cuck” only really stings as an insult to the very people who are tossing the insult around.
And insofar as the related term “cuckservative” actually bothers conservatives, I suspect they are less bothered by the sexual and racial overtones of the term than they are by the implication that they are not bona fide conservatives.
[J]ust like “racism” transcends political terminology like “fascist” and brings morality into the discussion, “cuck” transcends political terminology like “traitor” and brings sexuality and gender into the discussion, thus widening its implications. For years this kind of transcendent, weaponized term was missing from the right’s lexicon, but now it’s here, and that’s why “cuck” is so hurtful to the left and kosher conservatives.
Nope. One of the reasons that “racist” has the bite that it does is because the insult is so often true. What’s strange is that the insult doesn’t just bother garden variety racists; is also bothers alt-rightists and others on the far right whose ideologies are actually rooted in racism. Most racists hate to be labelled as such; that’s why you find so many of them on the far right resorting to euphemism, describing themselves as “race realists” or proponents of “Human Biodiversity” rather than simply admitting that, yes, they are huge bigots.
At-rightists and Trump enthusiasts aren’t the only ones obsessed with cuckolding. Men’s Rights activists are as well, though their definition of “cuckolding” comes not from porn but from one of the term’s original meanings. MRAs worry endlessly about the prospect of their wives (real or hypothetical) cuckolding them by conning them into raising children fathered by another man, presumably some alpha male lover she has on the side.
Indeed, many MRAs and Evo Psych professors have convinced themselves that this old-school variety of cuckolding is exceedingly common, with up to a third of the world’s ostensible fathers unknowingly raising kids who are not theirs.
But a new study published in Trends in Ecology and Evolution suggests that this is nonsense. Using genetic testing and genealogical research, the authors of the study found that the real rate of such cuckoldry has “stayed near constant at around 1% across several human societies over the past several hundred years.”
Somehow I doubt that this study will lead MRAs to be any less paranoid about being cuckolded, much less convince the internet’s Anime Nazis to give up an insult they think is “absolutely devastating.”
H/T — Thanks to both readers who alerted me to the new cuckolding study.
Okay once and for all, how is this pronounced? Like cluck, like book, or like duke?
First option.
Hard C, finish with an ‘uck, as in yuck.
As someone who has wished my partner “Good luck!” while she was on her way to a sex party that I wasn’t attending, “cuck” just doesn’t really have much sting to it.
Absolutely not, that’s hilarious.
I see I missed an important thing:
It may be a pay cut on the books, but she’s already paying right now, in aggravation and physical stress. She should keep that in mind.
Also, I had a thought. What if she started to record his conversations? Not on the sly – I mean, she puts a recording device in plain sight on her desk, and when he drops by she obviously and visibly turns it on and says, “I’m going to record what we talk about. If you’re not okay with that, you can turn around now.” If he continues talking, he’s clearly giving consent, so no legal problems. My guess would be that he does NOT keep talking, but takes his shit somewhere else that isn’t under surveillance.
It’s an aggressive move, so she might not be cool with it, but I thought I’d suggest it.
“Cuck” is best seen as a racially and sexually charged synonym for “sheeple”. Go ahead, try it. It’ll make perfect sense either way.
They also forget that for real “cucks” who are into the fetish, humiliating them for it and calling them “cucks” are two of the things they actually enjoy in many contexts.
Btw, do you guys agree that “emasculation” is really a thing (I mean, when you aren’t actually castrating a man physically)? “Efemination” is a thing, too, then (that word doesn’t show in my English dictionary, though)?
Isn’t “emasculation” a term meant to link “respect, honor, power, domination and the right not to ever have anyone disagree with you” as intrinsic to masculinity and men, and masculinity and men only? We don’t usually use this term in my language at all.
I admit, the word “cuck” makes me angry, but that’s because it’s essentially some wannabe/clueless brownshirt yelling “Sieg Heil”.
The word and the accusation are dumb as hell.
Mariana: I think “emasculation” is really just a synonym for castration. The problem is that its figurative sense of making someone look unmanly has pretty much taken over.
When I see this cuck nonsense I always think of a great post that answers the title question quite well:
http://ghostdaddotcx.tumblr.com/post/139101771621/poison-liker-heretic-pride-this-is-by-far
Key quote for those afraid of external links:
@A Space Alpaca
Music + Headphones. A good way to keep from being distracted, as well as signalling to the world that you don’t want to be distracted. Bonus points if they’re the big chunky non-earbud sort.
@A Space Alpaca
Canada has a one party consent policy for recording conversations, so your friend can absolutely surreptitiously use her phone to record any and all gross remarks that Asshole makes towards her.
This is a link to the Manitoba Civil Service’s sheet on harassment and harassment policies: http://www.gov.mb.ca/csc/policyman/respect.html
That should give you an idea of what your options are, legally speaking.
Other than collecting evidence or getting another job, you could try having her boyfriend (or a suitably burly male friend willing to pretend temporarily) have a word with Asshole, as he might listen to a Man.
Alternatively, get someone to run interference. Do you sit near your friend? Or does she have someone nearby who is sympathetic to her plight? Get them to barge in on conversations that Asshole tries to start up with you friend.
In the collage at the top, I also see the “altruistic is an insult” camp represented. Because the REAL problem today is… people helping each other. That just can’t be allowed.
Eventually this is going to come full circle and they’re going to start throwing out just straight-up sincere compliments, and then high-fiving each other on the sick burns.
Eat that, you thoughtful, honest, intelligent piece of humanity! I hope your family loves you!
@Cthulhu’s Intern
I’m pretty sure that the answer from these cuck obsessed individuals would be in the case of us single white males we’re suppose to be upset that some non-white guy is having sex with a white woman when by all laws of man and nature that white woman should be having sex with us instead.
Screw it: next time someone complains about an NPC in the background of some video game being trans (admitting it awkwardly only if you press them about having a name that’s weird even by video game standards), I’m going to respond, “stop acting like you’re being cucked.”
@teiresias
Technically there is a slight difference; castration correctly refers to the removal of only the testes, whereas emasculation involves the removal of both the testes and penis. However, the two procedures are not always distinguished clearly and there are numerous instances of one word being used to refer to the other.
tl;dr follows:
Emasculation means the removal of some external thing into which the person involved (or the society in which the person lives) has invested his masculinity, or his status of “being” a man.
In literal emasculation, masculinity has been invested in the literal genital organs. Figurative emasculation occurs when some other thing, usually a dominant social role or the expression thereof, in which the person’s status “as a man” has been invested, is removed. The term can also apply when this invested thing is denied to the person in the first place. The key is that this person was a man, or had the potential to be a man, and that status/potential has been denied.
Emasculation is something that is inflicted upon you by another person. If you inflict it on yourself that has to be explicitly called out, because the word itself carries an intrinsic meaning of being something that is done to you by another person or force.
Emasculation can only occur when the possession of some thing is intrinsic and necessary to one’s status as a man. For instance, if a society expects men to pay for dates, and men believe that all men and only men pay for dates, then a woman offering to pay for a date is emasculating. The social message is that, since all men pay for dates, she is implying that you are not a man. She is denying you possession of the responsibility to pay for the date, in which your masculinity is invested.
To answer your question of whether this is really a thing, it is really a thing that many, many men feel is a real thing, and to some degree that makes it true. If no man ever believed that his status as a man was threatened by the loss of some thing, then emasculation would not be a thing that exists. However, since “being a man” is an emotional state, feeling like one’s masculinity has been removed is a real feeling that people really experience. There is no reason why a woman paying for a date should cause a male-identifying person to identify as less male than he did an hour earlier, but because of the fucked-up way our society works, it can do that.
“Effeminate” on the other hand means a person who is expected to be a man behaving instead in a way more expected of a woman. Being effeminate is something you do yourself. The verb structure you are trying to create doesn’t exist in your dictionary because the word doesn’t really take a verb form. You “are” effeminate, or you “behave” in an effeminate manner, or you “become” effeminate. Someone does not do something that causes you to be effeminate. It is something that originates entirely with you.
Emasculation removes one’s status as a man. Effeminacy is the status of being like a woman. You can see how these can be related, but are not necessarily related. They are different ideas that can exist independently. Both have negative connotations because of misogyny and sexism built into the English language.
@Policy of Madness
Thanks for you response. Yes, I guess it has a lot to do with the sexism/misogyny built into the English (and many other) language.
When I asked if it’s a “thing”, I meant if it’s something we should agree with and endorse, instead of deconstructing.
And just to clarify: I meant “efemination” as a feminine parallel to “emasculation”, instead of “effemination”, with two F’s.
Because if we have no parallel… that is way more telling.
Not sure where to put this but has everyone been following Kesha’s court case against her producer?
I’m arguing with casual misogynists on Facebook and I’m wondering if the manosphere has said anything nasty about it yet.
@A Space Alpaca
Have you tried intervening yourself? Have you tried engaging her in conversation when you see him coming? Is it possible for you to pull him aside and say “dude give it a rest?” I don’t know how stable you situation is at work, but sometimes feminists need an ally on the upside of power.
I hope some/any of this helps.
The original cuckolds weren’t men raising children not of their loins, they were the birds raising chicks from eggs left in their nests by cuckoos.
So enough with the chickens, the cuck-callers are clearly cuckoo!
Oh, we polyamorous women are just feminists who abuse or push our beta husbands into allowing us to have other lovers so we can get more rides on the cock carousel. Or some illogical MRA on another site I’m on said.
Yep, polyamory is misandry. We’ll just ignore the fact that there are a lot of poly guys out there with more than one female lover.
Why do the types of people who say “cuck” really seem to think it works as an insult outside of their own group? Are they – that – myopic?
@Mortarius
That was very good. I like that analysis.
@FrickleFrackle
I want to believe the they are not myopic, but there is an incredible resistance to seeing things from other perspectives, and a great willingness to believe things that are convenient to them.
I think that they are that myopic, but there are probably a large enough number of people that do take offense that it works for bais.
I slogged through “‘Cuck’ is our ‘Racist'” hoping I’d understand the wtf they’re going on about, but, nope, I still don’t get it.
This whole blah, blah, blah section makes it seem like it’s a racisty twist on Rino (Republican in name only) and centers on right wing internet infighting that only the right wingers involved care about.
I have to admit I’m slightly amused by how the author seems to think the alt right have triumphed through online harassment. I guess since they don’t have any strategy other than online harassment, it makes sense that they believe “cuckservative” trending on Twitter is grand achievement.
I still don’t get how being called a fake conservative is going to bother a non-conservative.
As other people have noted, this is aggressively nonsensical. If he’s saying it’s meaning has switched from “fake conservative” to “race traitor”, well, why would a non-white supremacist care if a white supremacist calls them a “race traitor”? That’s not new either.
Communists? Really? I call bullshit on both the no defense and affirmation claims, I only remember some conservative commenters saying the word’s porn connection was icky and embarrassing. Again, it’s amusing that they think offending fusty offal like Erick Erickson is an amazing triumph, but I don’t remember any screaming rage even from him.
These guys are locked in their little alt-right echo chamber and have no idea what going on outside it. “Cuck” is a sophomoric inside joke that’s a little bit of a head-scratcher and impossibly pathetic. Their excitement over it is pretty amusing, but in the end it’s just another thing they are completely wrong about.