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The Man
 
 
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"The Man" is a slang
Slang

Slang is the use of highly informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's dialect or language....
 phrase that refers to the government
Government

Government is the body within any organization that has the authority to make and the power to enforce laws, regulations, or rules. Typically, the government refers to a civil government -- local, provincial, or national -- but commercial, academic, religious, or other formal organizations are also administered by governing bodies....
, leaders of large corporations, and other authority figures in general, rather than a specific person. "The Man" is colloquially defined as the figurative person who controls the world. The phrase is also often used as a symbol of racial oppression
Oppression

Oppression is the use of social power to disempower, marginalize, silence or otherwise subordinate one social group or category, often in order to further empower and/or privilege the oppressor....
, as well as the boss of a blue-collar worker, and the enemy of any counterculture
Counterculture

Counterculture is a Sociology term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a cultural group, or subculture, that run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day, the cultural equivalent of political opposition....
.

The phrase "the Man is keeping me down" is commonly used to describe perceived oppression.






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"The Man" is a slang
Slang

Slang is the use of highly informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's dialect or language....
 phrase that refers to the government
Government

Government is the body within any organization that has the authority to make and the power to enforce laws, regulations, or rules. Typically, the government refers to a civil government -- local, provincial, or national -- but commercial, academic, religious, or other formal organizations are also administered by governing bodies....
, leaders of large corporations, and other authority figures in general, rather than a specific person. "The Man" is colloquially defined as the figurative person who controls the world. The phrase is also often used as a symbol of racial oppression
Oppression

Oppression is the use of social power to disempower, marginalize, silence or otherwise subordinate one social group or category, often in order to further empower and/or privilege the oppressor....
, as well as the boss of a blue-collar worker, and the enemy of any counterculture
Counterculture

Counterculture is a Sociology term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a cultural group, or subculture, that run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day, the cultural equivalent of political opposition....
.

The phrase "the Man is keeping me down" is commonly used to describe perceived oppression. The phrase "stick it to the Man" encourages resistance to authority, and essentially means "fight back" or "resist".

History

The term "the Man" in the American sense dates back to about 1948, when it was commonly used as a code word for the warden of a prison
Prison

A prison, penitentiary, or correctional facility is a place in which individuals are physically confined or internment and usually deprived of a range of personal Freedom ....
. According to conservative
Conservatism

Conservatism is a political and social term whose meaning has changed in different countries and time periods, but which usually indicates support for the status quo or the status quo ante....
 African-American writer and professor Thomas Sowell
Thomas Sowell

Thomas Sowell , is an United States economist, social commentator, and author of dozens of books. He often writes from an economically laissez-faire perspective....
, the term "being hassled by the man" was used by poor farmer
Farmer

A farmer is a person who raises living organisms for food or raw materials....
s in the post American Civil War
American Civil War

The American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several Naming the American Civil War, was a civil war in the United States....
 South to refer to the "Bank Man" who would hassle them about the late payment of debts. In the Southern U.S. states, the phrase came to be applied to any man or any group in a position of authority, or to authority in the abstract. The phrase was also an underworld
Organized crime

Organized crime or criminal organizations comprise groups or operations run by crimes, most commonly for the purpose of generating a money profit....
 code word for police
Police

Police are agents or agencies, usually of the executive , empowered to enforce the law and to ensure public and social order through the legitimized use of force....
 or other law enforcement or penal authorities. It was also a term for a drug dealer. It came to be applied by blacks to whites, especially in the role of oppressors; see for example, Newsweek
Newsweek

Newsweek is an United States weekly newsmagazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally....
, August 3, 1964: "It is time to let The Man know that if he does something to us, we are going to do something back." The use of this term was expanded to other counterculture groups and their battles against authority, such as the Yippies
Youth International Party

The Youth International Party, whose members were commonly called Yippies, was a highly theatrical and anti-authoritarian political party established in the United States in 1967....
, which, according to a May 19, 1969 article in U.S. News and World Report, had the "avowed aim ... to destroy 'The Man', their term for the present system of government". The term eventually found its way into ironic usage, such as in a December 1979 motorcycle ad from the magazine Easyriders
Easyriders

Easyriders is an United States motorcycle magazine, founded in 1971. It is published monthly by Paisano Publications, LLC.In addition to its coverage of motorcycles and related activities, Easyriders is also known for including pictures of nude or topless women....
 which featured the tagline
Tagline

A tagline is a variant of a Advertising slogan typically used in marketing materials and advertising. The idea behind the concept is to create a memorable phrase that will sum up the tone and premise of a brand or product , or to reinforce the audience's memory of a product....
, "California
California

California is a U.S. state on the West Coast of the United States of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and to the south the Mexico state of Baja California....
 residents: Add 6% sales tax for The Man."

The use of the term 'the man' as a form of praise has an older provenance. One example of this usage dates to 1879 when Otto von Bismarck
Otto von Bismarck

Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Sch?nhausen, Duke of Lauenburg, Prince of Bismarck, , was a Kingdom of Prussia and Germany statesman and aristocrat of the 19th century....
 commented, referring to Benjamin Disraeli's actions at the Congress of Berlin
Congress of Berlin

The Congress of Berlin was a meeting of the European Great Powers' and the Ottoman Empire's leading statesmen in Berlin in 1878. In the wake of the Russo-Turkish War, 1877?78, the meeting's aim was to reorganize the countries of the Balkans....
, "The old Jew
Jew

A Jew is a member of the Jewish people, an ethnoreligious group that traces its ancestry to the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East....
, he is the man."

See also

  • New World Order (conspiracy theory)
  • Ruling class
    Ruling class

    The term ruling class refers to the social class of a given society that decides upon and sets that society's political policy.The ruling class is a particular sector of the upper class that adheres to quite specific circumstances: it has both the most material wealth and the most widespread influence over all the other classes, and it choo...
  • The Establishment
    The Establishment

    The Establishment is a term used to refer to the traditional ruling class elite and the structures of society that they control. The term can be used to describe specific entrenched elite structures in specific institutions, but is usually informal in application....
  • The Power Elite
    Power elite

    A power elite, in Political theory and Sociology, is a small group of people who control a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, and access to decision-making of global consequence....
  • I'm Waiting for the Man
    I'm Waiting for the Man

    "I'm Waiting for the Man" is a song by the United States Rock music band The Velvet Underground, written by Lou Reed. It was first released on their 1967 debut album, The Velvet Underground & Nico....
     (for usage of "The Man" to refer to a drug dealer)