I am man, hear me roar ... explain?

[Cattywampus_]

Hi

I have heard this saying a few times - the latest one is on a Burger King advert. A guy is singing a song and he says "I am man hear me roar". I have also read an IRC script on bash.org where a guy goes "I AM MAN HEAR ME ROAR" then he explains it as an " american thing " to someone who doesn't get it.

Its also on Batman Returns where catwoman goes " I am catwoman, hear me roar ".

So you american people, what does it mean? Where does it come from? Im British btw

 

[skunk]

It's some existential angst thing. Kind of like a Primal Scream.

 

[vniow]

Its a play on "I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar", a song that became kind of a feminist theme in the 70s I think.

 

[mkrishnan]

I think it's most famously associated with a 70s protest song from the "second wave" of American feminism:

Helen Reddy's I Am Woman

 

[WildCowboy]

Yes, it was actually an Australian, Helen Reddy who did the song "I Am Woman" back in the early '70s. In the US, it was adopted as an anthem for the feminist movement.

 

[Cattywampus_]

Ah right Nice one. Thanks for the info!