Sharon (Hebrew: שָׁרוֹן‎‎, Tiberian Hebrew: Šārôn) can be a female name which can be spelled with one "r" or two (Sharron).^{[citation needed]} It also refers to several places in the world.

It derives from a Israelite place name meaning "forest" in Hebrew, referring to a fertile plain near the coast of Israel. This gives its name to a type of flowering shrub, the rose of Sharon. Various nicknames of Sharon include Sha, Sharai, Sharona, Sharonald, Sharry, Sherri, Sherrie, Sherye, Share Bear, Sharonstein Bear, Sharoo, Shazz, Shazzy, Sharoon and Shazam.

Sharon is one of many names that could formerly be applied to males (as in the 19th-century historian Sharon Turner), but is now nearly always used of females (cf. Vivian, Ashley, Beverly, etc.).

In the United Kingdom its popularity peaked during the 1960s. It was the 10th most popular female name by 1964 and was still as high as 17th in 1974, but a sharp decline in popularity followed and since the 1980s it has not even featured in the top 100.

"The Man" is a slang phrase that may refer to the government or to some other authority in a position of power. In addition to this derogatory connotation, it may also serve as a term of respect and praise.

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

The earliest recorded use^{[citation needed]} of the term "the Man" in the American sense dates back to a letter written by a young Alexander Hamilton in September 1772, when he was 15. In a letter to his father James Hamilton, published in the Royal Dutch-American Gazette, he described the response of the Dutch governor of St. Croix to a hurricane that raked that island on August 31, 1772. "Our General has issued several very salutary and humane regulations and both in his publick and private measures, has shewn himself the Man." ^{[dubious – discuss]} 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. From about the 1950s the phrase was also an underworld code word for police, the warden of a prison or other law enforcement or penal authorities.

Mae West (August 17, 1893 – November 22, 1980) was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades.

Known for her bawdy double entendres, West made a name for herself in vaudeville and on the stage in New York before moving to Hollywood to become a comedienne, actress and writer in the motion picture industry. In consideration of her contributions to American cinema, the American Film Institute named West 15th among the greatest female stars of all time. One of the more controversial movie stars of her day, West encountered many problems, including censorship. When her cinematic career ended, she continued to perform on stage, in Las Vegas, in the United Kingdom, on radio and television, and recorded rock and roll albums. She used the alias Jane Mast early in her career.

West was born Mary Jane West in Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York, delivered at home by an aunt who was a midwife. She was the eldest surviving child of John Patrick West and Matilda "Tillie" Doelger (also known as Matilda Delker Doelger), who had emigrated with her family from Bavaria to the United States in 1886. West's parents married on January 18, 1889, in Brooklyn.