Of People and Ownership

There are certain things that I don't quite understand. And I claim that because I definitely have a different way of looking at the world, especially where relationships are concerned. I'm typically less clingy and possessive of my significant others.

So, I don't understand the mentality of calling someone "my man" or "my girl". While it might seem like a term of endearment of sorts, to me it just feels creepy.

Maybe it's because it almost seems like you finally won a person of specified gender in an auction like a slave. To me it comes across like you view them more as a possession rather than someone whom you're having a relatively intimate relationship with. So much so that it surpasses friendship status.

Now, I have a significant other. This is someone who I would consider a friend and lover. Someone who I enjoy spending copious amounts of time with. And while I'll use the statement my significant other, it doesn't seem to take on the same significance as calling him "my man". He's mine in the extent that we're sharing an intimate relationship that's not being shared with anybody else. But other then that... I don't know. It doesn't come across as being possessive. It's simply a statement of fact.

Perhaps it's the the fact that the term used isn't my boyfriend, girlfriend, wife, husband, lover, life partner, partner, etc. But only specifying the gender of the person that is what creeps me out. It almost sounds like this person is a set of genitalia and nothing more significant.

For some reason that phrase just gets under my skin.