In the classic 1940 film “The Bank Dick,” W.C. Fields‘ character Egbert Souse (“accent grave over the “e,” he constantly instructs) urges his prospective son-in-law, Og Oggilby, to embezzle $500 from the bank where he works to invest in shares of a “beefsteak mine.”
When Egbert encounters resistance from Og, he exhorts Og, saying: “Don’t be a luddy duddy. Don’t be a moon calf. Don’t be a jabbernowl. You’re not those, are you?”
The gauntlet thrown, Og relents and “borrows” the money from his employer — which leads to all manner of consternation and difficulty until all turns out well in the end.
McCulloch
That scene came to mind this week after I heard that St. Louis County prosecutor Robert McCulloch had challenged Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon to “man up” and make a decision about whether to ask McCulloch to recuse himself in the Michael Brown case. Some have suggested that because of personal and family considerations, McCulloch might favor law enforcement’s side.
Nixon drew McCulloch’s wrath because Nixon, while not requiring that McCulloch step aside (which the governor has the power to do), said he would not object if McCulloch chose to do so.
Here’s the full context of McCulloch’s use of the “man up” phrase, which he wheeled out in a radio interview that later aired on CNN:
“Stand up, man up — stand up and say, ‘I have this authority — I am not removing McCulloch,’ [or] ‘I am removing McCulloch,’ and move on with this.”
But McCulloch didn’t stop there; he proceeded to say that Nixon’s comments about recusal were “typical Nixon doublespeak” and “a distraction,” which hampered the process from moving forward.
Now, I’ve always thought Nixon is a bit of a wuss, but I would not have imagined that a lower-level elected official, like McCulloch, would have the gall to tell Nixon to “man up” and then accuse him of “typical doublespeak.”
It seems to me that that’s like the bad boy at school telling the principal, “Go ahead and kick me out of school; I dare you.”
To me, not only is McCulloch an idiot for openly challenging the governor, but he’s an idiot because he resorted to the lame, hackneyed “man-up” phrase.
The main problem with the phrase — other than the fact that it just sounds ridiculous — is that it can only be directed at a man. It is strictly a challenge to masculinity — “Do you have the balls to….? — rather than a call to dial up one’s courage, regardless of gender.
Much more appropriate, not to mention interchangeable, are terms like, “Be decisive!” or “Show some guts!”
I found at least two high-profile instances when women leveled the term against men.
In the 2010 Nevada senatorial race, Republican candidate Sharron Angle told Sen. Harry Reid to “Man up!” during a debate. (I guess he did well enough because he beat her by six percentage points.)
More recently, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to “man up” and acknowledge his government’s complicity in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17…Needless to say, Vlad has not.
In researching the hated phrase, I stumbled upon a blog called “The Art of Masculinity,” which addressed the phrase at length in 2013.
Brett McKay, founder and primary writer of the blog, said the problem with women telling men to “man up” is that “there isn’t really an equally shame-inducing phrase that men can level at women that implies the same thing but won’t get the man criticized for being sexist or patronizing.”
McKay went on to say:
“I’ve heard the phrase, ‘put on your big girl panties,’ said by other women, but if that were to come from a man, it would not likely be received very well!”
McKay rightly concluded that the term “man up” has become such a cliche that it is meaningless.
**
So…coming full circle, if I were Nixon, I would call McCulloch and say: “I have decided to man up…You are OUT!”
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
Perhaps he should have told Nixon to put on his big girl panties.
Now that might have roused Jay into action!
ok..ok..ok..first off I’ve known bob for about twenty years. he worked in the county prosecutor’s office with my friend tom mehan. the way bob presents himself is how bob is..up front and no holds barred. nothing he thinks or says is left for discussion. you know right away where he stands. that’s why he gets re-elected every four years with little or no republican challenge. people know him and how he works.
Nixon knows who he is dealing with when he faces off with bob and i’m not sure that’s a battle he needs to fight; bob can carry a lot of weight in st. Louis county, just look at the county election last month. without bob’s backing i’m not sure the margin of victory would have been so comfortable. Nixon will need bob in the future if he decides to run for a higher office.
second..the next time you’re with friends, have one of them stand about 35 feet away from you and start yelling at you, not just “hey how are you” but ” fuck you..what are you going to do” then have that person charge at you..how long does it take to cover that 35 feet? could you have pulled a weapon from a secured holster and fired six shots before he is on top of you or for that matter hit a moving target under pressure..6’5″ – 6’7″ (depending on what convenience store your leaving – stole that from ron white) 270-290 lbs running at you at full speed and pissed off..that’s what the officer had to face..you make the call…damn the royals may be for real!!!
Our intrepid St. Louis correspondent — sidelined from Circuit Court duty by toe surgery — weighs in. My wife Patty suggested I get Gus’s take before I wrote this post, but I think it’s worth more to hear from him in his own inimitable, Faulkneresque way…By the way, I broke his one, LONG paragraph into three…Keep that foot up, Gus.
I agree, “man up” is a stupid cliche. Whoever prosecutes this matter is not the point. Truth and justice, innocence until proven guilty, is what we need.
I sure hope McCulloch is able to play it very straight.
Since I obviously can not change your minds about the shooting maybe I can at least state the fact that there is a problem between white authority and the black community as it relates to fairness. Now you might say it is my perception and that there is really nothing wrong with the way lots of whites view black people and black men in particular. You don’t know me and I imagine you really wouldn’t want to based on your comments. But until you take the time to learn who I am and why my opinions are so different than yours this country will continue to fragment and decay. So I say to you. Man up and come to my community and learn something about me and my kind. White does not necessarily make right.
Damn the Royals are for real and a lot of them can just barely speak English. Diversity is here in the Midwest a least on a certain level. Mr. Robinson did some good after all. The struggle continues and is real.
Mr. Alexander, there are many white people who have tried to come to your community, or who have tried to get to know how your community thinks and it has not turned out well. Black on white crime is far more commonplace than the reverse and those who try are victimized, shouted down, or otherwise exploited.
Interactions as simple as trying to shop together in places like Indian Springs, Bannister Mall, Westport and now The Plaza have proven problemmatic owing to black folks behaving abusively towards whites, So, we have learned something about you and your kind, as it were, and it thus far, by and large, has not been a pleasant experience. That’s unfortunate and even more unfortunate is the fact that a president that we had hoped would bring us together has divided us even further. Perhaps, with your help, tomorrow will be a better day.