|
An age old tradition has once again shown itself to bet the master of everything that is uncalled for.
Despite new advancements in pissing people off (word or action) flashing the middle finger is still by far the best way to put someones good mood off! During a performance at the Super Bowl together with Madonna, Rapper M.I.A. flipped her middle finger to the cameras which now has landed her in hot water for the said incident. Sunday night's broadcast of the Super Bowl which was presented by both NFL and NBC were quick to issue an apology for the gesture known in the US as flipping the bird or simply just giving someone the finger.
But a look to the past would shed light to the history of this notoriously taboo symbol. A public intellectual reaches for a familiar gesture announcing that it is the great demagogue in 4th Century BC Athens when philosopher Diogenes told visitors what he thought of the orator Demosthenes. It is documented to have expressed insult and belittlement for more than two millennia. Ancient Greek philosophers, Latin poets hoping to sell copies of their works, soldiers, athletes and pop stars, school children, peevish policemen and skittish network executives have all been aware of the gesture's particular power to insult and enflame.
To explain the graphic interpretation, the middle finger is the penis and the curled fingers on either side are the testicles. By doing it, you are offering someone a phallic gesture. It is saying, 'this is a phallus' that you're offering to people, which is a very primeval display. Others try to grope their crotch in some countries (Michael Jackson was fond of such move).
The Romans had their own name for it: digitus impudicus - the shameless, indecent or offensive finger. The Roman historian Tacitus wrote that German tribesmen gave the middle finger to advancing Roman soldiers, says Thomas Conley, a professor emeritus of communication and classics at the University of Illinois, who has written about the rhetoric of insults. But don't put the blame on humans, even animals (male squirrel monkeys) of South America are known to gesture with the erect penis. The middle finger probably arrived in the US with Italian immigrants, as documented in the US as early as 1886, when a pitcher for the Boston Beaneaters gave it in a joint team photograph with the rival New York Giants.
This action goes beyond race, culture, and social status which explains that although the middle finger may historically have symbolised a phallus, it has lost that distinctive meaning and is no longer even obscene in most cases (except during large events like the Super Bowl). A recent song by Cobra Starship's "Middle Finger" even puts the action in a more relaxed state even though it might still be censored by others. Better flip the finger at someone to show your disdain rather than pull out a gun and blow his/her brains off right?
Newer news items:
Older news items:
|
