“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