Trophy wife

The term trophy wife or tropaeum uxor refers to a wife who is regarded as a status symbol for the husband. The term is often used in a derogatory or disparaging way. The term trophy husband is the male equivalent, although this is rarer. It can also be used to imply that the trophy wife in question has little personal merit besides her physical attractiveness, requires substantial expense for maintaining her appearance, is often unintelligent or unsophisticated, does very little of substance beyond remaining attractive, and is in some ways synonymous with the term gold digger. A trophy wife is (relatively) young and attractive - she may be a second, third or later wife of an older, wealthier man.

"Trophy Wife" redirects here. For other uses, see Trophy Wife (disambiguation).
The ill-matched couple, by Lucas Cranach (c. 1550), National Museum in Warsaw

Referring to a spouse as a trophy wife usually reflects negatively on the character or personality of both parties. For the husband, it has a connotation of pure narcissism and the need to impress, and that the husband would not be able to attract the sexual interest of the attractive woman for any reason apart from his wealth or position.

History

The term's etymological origins are disputed. One claim is that "trophy wife" originally appeared in a 1950 issue of The Economist newspaper, referring to the historical practice of warriors capturing the most beautiful women during battle to bring home as wives.[1] William Safire claimed that the term "trophy wife" was coined by Julie Connelly, a senior editor of Fortune magazine, in a cover story in the issue of August 28, 1989, and immediately entered common usage.[2] Author Tom Wolfe, himself often credited with coining the term, disclaimed it in a talk given at Brown University in 1996,[3] wherein he also credited Fortune magazine in an article published "not that long ago."[4] Many sources claim the term was coined earlier (for example, the Online Etymology Dictionary cites 1984),[5] but easy online access to William Safire's article about the term has led many (such as the Oxford English Dictionary) to believe that August 28, 1989, was its first use.[6] However, the idiom is found in passing in a quote in a 1965 publication, apparently referring to the wife of Bernie Madoff.[7]

Tropaeum uxor (Latin for trophy wife) appears in many scripts of both Greek and Roman origin dating as far back as the first half of the first century. There is the example found in the Naturalis Historia (by Pliny the Elder), though the meaning was probably not close to today's meaning and referred to "trophy women" as part of the tribute paid to Roman conquerors by defeated opponents. Elizabeth McClintock, a sociologist at the University of Notre Dame, believes the phenomenon in modern society is less common than other research suggests.[8]

See also

References
Notes
  1. Linker, Harry (7 May 2010). "Buying into the Hype: Trophy Antiques and Collectibles". WorthPoint.com.
  2. Safire, William, "On Language; Trophy Wife", The New York Times, May 1, 1994.
  3. https://www.c-span.org/video/?71278-1/end-century Tom Wolfe talk given at Brown University on April 17, 1996
  4. "End Century Apr 17, 1996 |Video | C-SPAN.org"
  5. Harper, Douglas. "trophy". Online Etymology Dictionary.
  6. Oxford English Dictionary Addition Series 1997
  7. LeBor, Adam (1 January 2009). "The Believers: How America Fell for Bernard Madoffs $65 Billion Investment Scam". Phoenix. Retrieved 28 September 2016 – via Google Books.
  8. "Is There Really Such A Thing As A 'Trophy Wife'?". npr.org. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
  9. "So Many Comics, so Little Time: A 'Laughs' Roundup". Chicago Tribune. 19 June 2011.
  10. Roy, Amit. "Padma walks out, but some 'trophy wives' have stayed the course", The Telegraph, India (4 July 2007).
  11. Barone, Michael. "More Than Anna Nicole Smith's Husband: The Oil-Soaked Life of J. Howard Marshall". 2 March 2009.
  • Book citation, power couples are the "in" thing.
  • T3 magazine in a review of the Motorola luxury "Aura" mobile phone model: "We think it’s best to think of the AURA as the trophy-wife of the phone world, it’s great to look at and bring to social occasions, but that’s about it."
  • End of the Century. C-SPAN, lecture at Brown University, April 17, 1996. "Now I have sometimes been credited with coining the term to try the words not true. It was coined by Fortune magazine in a brilliant piece not that long ago..."
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.