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Douchebag Baggage
I grew up in a household where music, cinema and literature were never censored. I was exposed to television that would have otherwise made the Baptist mother’s of my elementary friend’s quake at their knees. Needless to say, I was savvy to all of the current cuss words. Thats why I was completely shocked at my parent’s recent reaction over the simple turn of phrase, “emo-hispter douchebag.” They were totally taken aback by the fact I would actually think to call someone this (and by someone, I mean emo-hipster douchebags in general…. whoever they are.) For my parents, it was the ultimate insult and held none of the lightness, satire or slang-association that my friends and I applied to it. In a home where I thought anything goes, I had found the household Achilles heel. I mentioned my cussing faux-pas to the Gumboot editors and quicker than you can say Lord Douchebag, the Daily Gumboot was rolling out a weeklong series on douchebags for your education and enjoyment.
I would argue that nowhere in the annals of blogging has the term “douchebag” been more explored than here, on the Daily Gumboot. In particular, the different perspectives that herald from Germany, East Africa and Argentina does as much to shroud this nebulous word in mystery as it does to shed light on it. I’ve learned many things from reading this blog’s line-up of articles discussing the douchebag, Tarado, Makmende and Spacko. I have enjoyed the back and forth play between contributors on the merits and disadvantages of douchebags in the community, and reading about the historical significance of the word – stretching and assimilating every possible meaning behind it.
But most of all, this series has left me thinking about memes. A meme is when something – a word, song, movie, expression, or movement – is passed on from one individual to the next. When we say something has “gone viral,” we mean it’s reached meme status. I would argue that the term douchebag is now a meme. From the emo-hipster douchebag (urbandictionary.com has yet to list this one) to Sarah Silverman’s Douche Canoe, the word douchebag carries a lot of baggage which, if you take the pun seriously, says something about pop culture today.
I have no doubt, that when Saturday Night Live first aired their infamous Lord and Lady Douchbag skit in 1980, my parents were blown away and tickled pink by the gall and humour of the cast and writers. What was fresh and controversial for my parents is classic, pioneer humour for me. When I watch the skit, I think of the words “playful,” “naughty” and “obnoxious.” I suppose you could apply these words, combined or not, to douchebags and those of us who use the term as liberally as we do, today.
Well done, Gumbooters! If there were a douchebag-reporting award, I think we would win it – or is that way too douchey of me to say?
Douchebag Table of Contents
A Discussion of Douchebags – Introduction
A Discussion of Douchebags – History & Etymology
Douchebags of the World, Unite!
The East African Douchebag
The Douchebag in Latin America: “We all have a little Tarado inside!”
To Douchebag, or Not to Douchebag?
Befriend a Douchebag Today!
For the Sake of the Community, Bring out the Antidouche!
Political Douchebaggery
Your Digital Fill (of Douchebags)
Get to Know Your Community Douchebag – Pete (the Mystery Man)
The Douchebag in Latin America: “We all have a little Tarado inside!”
Douchebag does not have a literal translation in Argentinian Spanish. However, the term “tarado” , in the right context, can refer to a douchbag. Literally, a “tarado” is someone mentally ill, but nobody would actually use it in that sense (the closest word in English might be “retarded”). In Buenos Aires or Montevideo, someone who cuts in line would get called “tarado”. In Argentina, everyone has a little “tarado” inside (I call mine Pedro), since general behavior in the public space is far from being valued. Argentinians show little respect for others and public life in general. It is more than common to see people throw garbage out of their car windows, they use the car horn a lot (I mean a lot) to express their frustration and as a rule are quite rude to each other. However, the same person who just yelled at you for no apparent reason or threw is cigarette’s butt in the hallway might be the most helpful person you have ever met if he or she knows you. Interaction between strangers and general perception of public life make it almost impossible to distinguish “tarados” from “none tarados”.
Google Images says that this picture is representative of a "Tarado" - what do you think?
In my opinion, a few factors make Argentina a low social capital country: a history of dictatorships, bad governments (check out Carlos Menem in Google for a hint), some degree of corruption (though not as pronounced as other Latin American countries), strong social inequalities, a better past (Argentina used to be a model of social equality, dominated by a strong middle class). This context makes most Argentinians think that nothing works as it should and everybody will try to take something from them. In recent years, the sensationalistic media has amplified this trend with an overemphasis on crime, fear and corruption. If nobody acts for the common good, why do it? This very cynical, often nostalgic, view of society justifies letting our little “tarado” express himself freely.
Do you think that everybody has a little douchebag inside them? I know that Pedro would want me to say something like, “would you like some?” Oh, Pedro…
A Discussion of Douchebags – Introduction
“You’re a douchebag!”
Those mean-spirited words spewed themselves my way about a year ago on Commercial Drive, which is my neighbourhood. To be honest, they still haunt me. Nobody likes to be called any derivative of a douche-like noun/verb/adjective, as it is undeniably negative. For example, I make a strong case for professional-kindness to my students because, when it comes to business (or any other kind of collaboration), nobody wants to work with a douchebag. The thing about being a douchebag, though, is that it is entirely subjective. So, whether I am or not will be left up to you, readers – but, hey, this isn’t about me.
Needless to say, my friends, co-workers and strangers I meet on public transit have become well versed in the above tale. One such good friend, Gumbooteer Theodora Lamb, pitched the brilliant idea to discuss the term/concept/factoid/person/people/word “douchebag” as it relates to communities everywhere around the world and beyond. Google “douchebag” and you can see just how much this word has woven its way into our social fabic.
As this is a blog an online magazine about community, it seems only natural that we address such a word/thing/person that is, for better or worse, a super-popular nomenclature within our cultural landscape. So, for the next week, the Daily Gumboot will discuss douchebags from a myriad of perspectives, including, but not limited to, etymology, history, “the douchebag” around the world, reforming (or not reforming) douchebags, photographic analysis of “douchebags”, and an interview with “Pete”, the Daily Gumboot’s resident dou- well, you get the idea.
Many questions – such as, “why can you say ‘douchebag’ on television?” and “are there douchebags in East Africa? If so, how are they similar/different from douchebags in Yaletown?” and “what will be the long-term impact of douchebags on our communities?” – will be addressed logically, rationally, intelligently, professionally, and hilariously by the DG‘s talented team. I hope you have fun with it!
- John Horn, Editor-in-Chief