Masculinity - What Makes a Man?

a bullet and a target.

You can be a masculine and a man and have no particular interest in anything to do with protecting women or children.

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Havenā€™t seen Kopstar recently? :joy:

Giving up your seat for a lady :0)

Must have gotten help from a man otherwise she got stuck ā€¦

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Getting ready for a David Copperfield trick?

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Maybe you can.

What about gay men, who might have no particular interest in children.

The definition of masculinity is actually an evolving scale which is defined by current society, so over the years has changed. The people in society have evolved at different rates which means the ends of the scale of masculinity will be as individual as the person themselves.
A traditional/historical/typical definition may often include hairiness, chivalry, whiskey, brown leather and some form of nicotine/tar inhalation device.
These days, it could be easily argued that having the confidence to go against societal norms is a real masculine trait and so anything goes fashion wise. Not having addictions or social ā€˜crutchesā€™ could be a masculine trait, so the whiskey and cigars are gone.
What was once considered masculine can even now be defined as toxic masculinity. If it is toxic should it be considered masculine? Or is it masculinity nonetheless?

As said much earlier though, regardless of where your scale starts and ends, masculinity does not define what makes a man, and being a man doesnā€™t necessarily mean being masculine.

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I donā€™t know many gay men, one of the characteristics on the ones I do know would be the opposite of masculine. I believe itā€™s called feminine. Stereotype accusations incoming.

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Fail Oh No GIF by The Great British Bake Off

I think I know where @Klopptimist is coming from but not sure itā€™s right that we put people into boxes / categories these days.

Kind of feels weird to me.

Not every straight man would be consideted masculine or manly.We all,gay or straight ,have many different layers .

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Iā€™ve never considered Stephen Fry or Ian McKellen especially feminine.

Even other gay men like Graham Norton, while they may be camp, that isnā€™t at all the same thing as feminine.

Did he had a purse ā€¦ :innocent:

Yep, definitely a stereotype

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I think weā€™re in serious danger of drifting into ā€œManBag-gateā€, againā€¦

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My nephew is gay and is as ā€˜effeminateā€™ as anybody Iā€™ve ever met. His one time partner was a polar opposite of him.
In my late teens and early twenties we had a friend Paul in our group who himself was ā€˜effeminateā€™ (he grew up as the only boy in a family of seven). Whilst we would be swilling lager and trying our utmost to make a conquest for the night, he would drink malibu and was quite happy to go home alone. We all ā€˜knewā€™ he was gay and that was that. His best friend outside of the group was a lesbian girl and heā€™d sometimes accompany her to gay bars and clubs. We all grew up and drifted apart through work and marriage.
Many years later when I was watching my Lad play under 16ā€™s footy I noticed my mateā€™s sister on the opposite touchline. I went over to see her and catch up. I asked about Paul and she told me that he was married with two teenage kids. I donā€™t know how my face looked? But she said ā€œI know. We all thought that tooā€. I suppose what Iā€™m trying to say (in reference to the thread title) is that masculinity does not necessarily make a man in the same way that effeminacy makes you less of a man. :nerd_face:

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Well argued.