So who is Frank Kellog? Apparently, Frank Kellog was a Senator from Minnesota, Secretary of State in Calvin Coolidge’s cabinet, associate judge of the Permanent Court for International Justice, as well as a Nobel Peace Prize winner! Okay, if being a Nervous Nellie means winning a Nobel Peace Prize, I’m not too angry. So, a worrisome man received a nickname that references a woman, implying that by being excessively worried and overly-cautious, Frank Kellog was acting against gender expectations. He was given the nickname Nervous Nellie as he was the only Republican Senator who voted for the ratification of the Treaty of Versailles. To my surprise, the original Nervous Nellie was a man! Nervous Nellie was a Senator named Frank Kellog in the 1920s. Then, I came across this blog post by a feminist law professor who discussed the back story of Nervous Nellie. I couldn’t believe common colloquialisms are so one-sidedly sexist. Other masculine colloquialisms are still pretty average - namely, Average Joe and every Tom, Dick, and Harry. Even though Jack of all Trades is often followed by “master of none,” the phrase is rarely used as a standalone derogatory description. There must be male equivalents, right? However, the few masculine colloquialisms I found are mostly positive: Jack of all Trades, Happy as Larry, Curious George, Even Steven. The deeper question is, what does it say about our collective understanding of gender roles if all these derogatory expressions are popularized by shows and politicians we see every day? Masculine traits It is not hard to see most of these expressions originated in popular culture and politics. Its exact origin is unknown, but it is said to have European roots dated back to the 18th century.
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