A person of exceptional physical strength, often performing feats of strength in circuses or competitions, or a political leader who rules by force.
From Old English 'strong' (powerful, robust) combined with 'man,' gaining the political meaning in the 20th century to describe authoritarian rulers.
The word took on darker political meaning in the 20th century—'strongman' now describes dictators like Stalin and Mussolini, showing how the same word can glorify circus performers but warn us about tyrants.
Term historically applied to male circus performers and political authoritarian leaders. Gendered language defaults to male for strength archetypes, encoding assumption that power/strength is masculine.
Use 'strong leader,' 'authoritarian ruler,' or 'powerful figure' when gender-neutral reference is intended. Specify 'strongman performer' or 'strongwoman' when referring to actual practitioners.
["strong leader","authoritarian figure","powerful performer","strongwoman"]
Women strongwoman performers (Bessie Brandt, Katie Sandwina in early 1900s) were erased from popular discourse; the term became male-default despite women's documented history in strength performance.
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