What is masculinity?

[Puffy]

A lot of people bring up the topic but I'm curious to hear what exactly people think masculinity is or what is masculine?

What makes someone more or less masculine than someone else? Are their traits or behaviours associated with it? How does someone become more or less masculine?

 

[birdsnestfern]

I don't see them as something one gender has more access to. I believe every person has both feminine and masculine and our job is to balance them so we experience both in ways that optimize us. Why limit anyone with gender? Everyone incarnates into both sexes to learn the lesson not to discriminate against either. If you don't like one sex, you will be born as that sex in your next life so you learn how to accept either. Men can be wonderful cooks or home makers or caretakers or dancers or artists, Women can be wonderful at sports or construction, doctors, accountants or as scientists.

I feel like the more you spiritualize life, the less you care about gender. What I really quietly laugh at is the notion that you have to conquer something or someone. (He man or He Woman mentality). Its not really very advanced thinking to do that. Its better to work WITH things than try to conquer them overall especially with nature. But there IS a time and a place for everything. Lets take HUNTING or FISHING. If you want to eat, you need the hunter mentality. You won't get far if you are too meek to capture an Octopus you find crawling in tidepools for dinner or, if you can't slaughter a lamb when you are starving. Ugh. You need both to survive.

Also, look at features like WILL, ACTION, POWER, STRENGTH, COMPETITION or GENTLENESS, SOOTHING, HEALING, RECEPTIVITY, GENEROUSITY, as universal that everyone can and should be using. You have qualities of both genders and its about rounding yourself to use ALL psychological states.

Is it better to let the Octopus go, or to harvest and eat it if you are hungry? Its that life gives you choices and you need both options for different situations. When hunting is spiritualized, you are working with life. There is a certain grace you can use as you do so. Its not just raw and mean and ugly, its a cooperation.

This is extreme and could be offensive, but here are two women that do all the work from slaughter to cooking and they do it gracefully. I think they've mastered the balance of feminine and masculine very well.

 

[dr froyd]

if one starts from a biological basis, some attributes are distinctive - for example

masculinity: risk-taking, aggression (in a general sense)
femininity: self-preservation, caretaking

from a cultural standpoint one needs values and principles that make the best of these attributes. For example, historically things like courage have always been important for men.

 

[fluffy]

The goal of any gender is to teach kids how to survive. Which takes responsibility.

In the modern environments we are in currently, this is mental and physical.

As an example my family came from farming and my roommate came from warriors. And in evolution terms those needed different body architectures. They helped in doing different things within an environmental setting.

The same can be applied to gender but after considering where people live and immigration not all women do the same as all other women and not all men do what other men do.

Men don't have to use muscles as much before. Both men and women now have access to books not seen in jungle or forests.

Civilization changed the dynamics.

Biology is adapting regardless.

 

[birdsnestfern]

50s and 60s males.

 

[Hadoblado]

I think it's best defined by gendered prescription. It might be the case that some masculine traits are genetic but until they're prescribed based on gender they're not part of masculinity. Likewise, it's possible for something to be masculine without it having any genetic basis at all.

 

[fluffy]

Massive, muscler, tough, imposing, rouf.

Lite, smooth, delicate, receptive, gentle.

Without classification, you can see a difference. Like dainty vs grouf.

And there is acting a certain way because you look a certain way.

A character design.

You see them doing activities and places them in or out of character.

And the voice.

And the mannerisms.

Look at clover from that's so totally spies and look at carmen from where in the world is carmen sandiego. There is a difference of what is mature masculine and feminine that people think of when looking at people.

What we think of as mature gets implanted in us by our sense of humor and morals. So as characters people associate a mentality with the appearance and the behavior played out.

 

[Old Things]

Both men and women can be care takers. They just do this differently. Men typically do this by caring for the physical needs of their children and women tend to take care of the emotional needs of their children.

Men are typically more logical, and women are typically more creative. These are not opposites. There are very creative men who are still masculine, and there are women who are very logical while still being feminine.

The ideal man is someone who will risk their life to protect those around him.

 

[threeStepfourStep]

I think this is more shown in how male kids would interact between themselves versus how adult mothers would interact (between themselves).

Guys would take jokes on a conceptual level and find jokes funny because of the imagry or the cultural conception of such a joke, but a group of females would bulk at things which could be deemed sensitive to certain kinds of people or be more empathetic to the subjects within the joke.

I think generally masculinity tends to be extroverted, whether in thinking or emotive expression, while femininity is more conscious of the psyche and the emotional fabric or intrapersonal quality of someone.

I think to be more masculine, you're more judgemental, whether extrovertedly or introvertedly, whether you express it or not, while feminitiy is more opting towards understanding, emotionally or conceptually or otherwise.