Occupation: Slave

About

Occupation: Slave refers to a reaction image taken from the Wikipedia page of the Roman freedman Sporus. The text reads "Occupation: Slave / Known for: Being castrated." It is used as a reaction image in speech-bubbling memes to criticize people who seem happily subservient to work and hustle culture, also known as "Wagies."

Origin

On the Wikipedia page for Roman freedman Sporus,^[1] the text reads that Sporus' occupation was "slave" and he was known for "being castrated."

Following the death of Nero's wife, Poppaea Sabina, Nero was said to believe that the slave Sporus resembled his deceased wife. Nero had him castrated and married Sporus, dressing him up as Poppaea for a year following her death. After Nero's death, Sprous remained an important piece in the power struggle for a new Roman emperor before taking his own life in 69 CE.

Spread

In the fall of 2024, the image of Wikipedia's facts about Sporus began being used as a reaction image on social media, usually to imply via speech bubbling that a person was happily subservient and had no courage.

Though it's unclear when it was first posted online, an early popular example was posted on September 12th, 2024, by X / Twitter user RustyShack33388,^[4] gaining over 800 retweets and 6,000 likes in six weeks.

Another early example was posted on September 27th, 2024, by Twitter user @Fuheng_H,^[2] though it did not see significant spread or engagement.

On October 17th, 2024, Twitter user @NEVERLOGGINGOUT^[3] posted the image in response to a Twitter user saying, "the pay is shit but I love my coworkers," gaining over 650 retweets and 13,000 likes in one week.

Various Examples

Template

Search Interest

Unavailable.

External References