Trophy wife is an expression used to describe a
wifeA wife is a female partner in a marriage. The rights and obligations of the wife regarding her spouse and others, and her status in the community and in law, varies between cultures and has varied over time.-Origin and etymology:...
, usually young and attractive, who is regarded as a
status symbolA status symbol is a perceived visible, external denotation of one's social position and perceived indicator of economic or social status. Many luxury goods are often considered status symbols...
for the
husbandA husband is a male participant in a marriage. The rights and obligations of the husband regarding his spouse and others, and his status in the community and in law, vary between cultures and has varied over time...
, who is often older and affluent.
History
The term's etymological origins are disputed. One claim is that
trophy wife originally appeared in a 1950 issue of
The EconomistThe Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
magazine, referring to the historical practice of warriors capturing the most beautiful women during battle to bring home as wives.
William SafireWilliam Lewis Safire was an American author, columnist, journalist and presidential speechwriter....
claimed that the term
trophy wife was coined by Julie Connelly, a senior editor of
FortuneFortune is a global business magazine published by Time Inc. Founded by Henry Luce in 1930, the publishing business, consisting of Time, Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated, grew to become Time Warner. In turn, AOL grew as it acquired Time Warner in 2000 when Time Warner was the world's largest...
magazine, in a cover story in the issue of Aug. 28, 1989 and immediately entered common usage. Many sources claim the term was coined earlier (for example, the
Online Etymology Dictionary cites 1984) but easy online access to William Safire's article about the term has led many (such as
Oxford English DictionaryThe Oxford English Dictionary , published by the Oxford University Press, is the self-styled premier dictionary of the English language. Two fully bound print editions of the OED have been published under its current name, in 1928 and 1989. The first edition was published in twelve volumes , and...
) to believe that August 28, 1989 was its first use.
A trophy wife is a woman that a financially successful man marries for the purpose of increasing his status. The main characteristics are that she is beautiful, desirable and an object of admiration. She is a status symbol (hence ‘trophy’) in much the same way as an expensive sports car, a pricey wristwatch or a luxury apartment.
The marriage of former Playboy Playmate
Anna Nicole SmithIn 1992 Smith was chosen by Hugh Hefner to appear on the cover of the March issue of Playboy, where she was listed as Vickie Smith, wearing a low-cut evening gown. The centerfold was photographed by Stephen Wayda. Smith said she planned to be "the next Marilyn Monroe". Becoming one of Playboys...
to oil billionaire
J. Howard MarshallJames Howard Marshall II was an American business magnate, university professor, attorney, and federal government official...
was widely followed by the
USThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
mass mediaMass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
as an extreme example of this concept. At the time of their marriage, he was 89 years old and she was 26.
See also
- Age disparity in sexual relationships
Age disparity in sexual relationships refers to sexual relations between people with a significant difference in age. Whether these relationships are accepted and the question of what counts as a significant difference in age has varied over time; and varies over cultures, different legal systems,...
- Erotic capital
Sexual capital or erotic capital is a form of social worthiness granted to an individual, as a result of his or her sexual attractiveness to the majority of his or her social group...
- Narcissistic supply
Narcissistic supply is a concept in some psychoanalytic theories which describes a type of admiration, interpersonal support or sustenance drawn by an individual from his or her environment ....
- WAGs
WAGs is an acronym, used particularly by the British tabloid press, to describe the wives and girlfriends of high-profile footballers, originally the England national football team. The term came into common use during the 2006 FIFA World Cup, although it had been used occasionally before that...
External links
- Alpha males forsake the trophy wife, article in the Sunday Times, stating that "Academics say they have found the first evidence that successful British males increasingly prefer a spouse with a high-powered job to one who stays at home with the children."
- http://www.t3.com/reviews/phones/mobile-phones/motorola-aura-mobile-phone-review 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."