Nu-male
About
Nu-male is an internet slang term referring to men and boys who do not conform to traditional masculine gender roles. Online, the term is often used as a pejorative in a similar fashion to "beta male," "cuck" or "soy boy", but is typically reserved for white men with facial hair and eyeglasses.
Origin
The earliest known use of the term "nu-male" was in a post submitted to the Social Anxiety Support Forums[6] on September 21st, 2011, sarcastically comparing the term to the music genre nu metal (shown below).
Spread
On December 18th, 2015, an anonymous 4chan user submitted a photograph of a bearded man wearing glasses along with the question "Is it just me or do most white male liberals look like this?" (shown below, left).[1] In response, another user replied with a collage of photographs featuring white men wearing glasses along with a definition of the term "nu-male" (shown below, right).
On June 10th, 2016, Urban Dictionary[5] user Gary Nyuman submitted an entry for "Nu-male," defining it as men "lacking self-respect who are completely devoid of any masculinity" (shown below).
On October 17th, 2016, Redditor joe1up submitted a post asking "What on earth is 'numale'?" to /r/OutOfTheLoop,[3] to which Redditor Viraus2 responded that it was a "derogatory term for effete millennial men."
On April 18th, 2017, BodyBuilding Forums[2] member TheFuarkingBoss submitted a thread titled "Are you a Nu Male?", along with a collage featuring photographs of Carl the Cuck, Phil Fish, John Oliver, Seth Rogen, Louis C.K. and John Green (shown below).
On November 11th, 2017, Redditor BasedGeisha submitted a collage titled "Nu-Male Starter Pack" to /r/starterpacks,[4] where it received upwards of 460 points (68% upvoted) and 280 comments over the next several weeks.
Nu-Male Smile
On October 30th, 2017, Redditor sexy_mofo1 submitted a post titled 'Numale Mouth' Why is that everyone that seems to be against us smiles like this in photos?", followed by an MS Paint illustration of an open-mouthed man with a beard (shown below, left).[7] In the comments section, Redditor brappablat submitted a comic in which a bearded man is shown posing with his mouth agape (shown below, right).
On November 12th, YouTuber SailorDeer uploaded a video discussing the "Nu-male mouth" phenomenon (shown below).
Search Interest
External References
[1] Yuki.la – /pol/ thread
[2] BodyBuilding – Are you a Nu Male?
[3] Reddit – What on earth is numale?
[4] Reddit – The Nu-Male Starter Pack
[5] Urban Dictionary – Nu-male
[6] Social Anxiety Support – Rixy comment
[7] Reddit – Nu male mouth
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