A thread on a forum I go to asked one’s level of “manly”. Pictured above is the popular overly manly man meme. What does it mean to be a man? What makes one manly? I think about those questions often because — and I’m certainly not alone in this judging by responses to the aforementioned thread — I do not exactly fit the mold of what I would assume “manly” is:
I can’t hunt, fish; I’m not handy at all and know nothing about cars; my beard doesn’t come in even and I find most sports and sports talk boring. I hate getting those calluses on my hand from manual labor — I hate outdoor work because of the sun and the back-breaking nature of it. I can’t lift a lot of things, as I”m not very big or muscular.
I am easily emotional at high art in film or music or television. I’m the proverbial heart-on-a-sleeve type. I like cooking and find cleaning relaxing. I don’t mind doing laundry. I do baby talk, but for my dog. I don’t mind rocking out to girly songs, if they’re good or catchy. So-called chick flicks can be awesome.
I’ve had two pedicures before and would gladly do another one; they are divine. I have an interest in most avenues of art including fashion, classical music, painting and so forth. I’m not an expert or even well-versed in all those areas, but I appreciate them and don’t mind discussing them.
Finally, and this one definitely seems to rub the “manly” types the wrong way, but I have no issue acknowledging the good looks of another man. It doesn’t mean I want to fuck them, but beauty is beauty.
New York Magazine had an interesting profile on “What Does Manhood Mean in 2013?” here. Check out this excerpt:
JWT’s millennial men were more likely to answer affirmatively to statements like “Men can’t be men anymore.” These guys have never lived in an era of rigid gender rules. The report says they seek the perceived trappings of manly men of the past to reinforce their masculinity while they pursue the other, more traditionally feminized lifestyle choices they also desire. This theory might explain why you can often find rugged pickaxes in high-end clothing shops of urban America.
In the article, the author also makes mention of how peculiar it is that women in 2013 no less, are still kinda assumed to be the one “nurturing children” as it were. That’s not to say the father isn’t present or very much active in raising the child, but when it comes down to it, the assumption still lingers, which is interesting.
I personally like what the singer/activist Sting says about what it means to be a man here:
I couldn’t agree more and in that regard when one considers the prevalence of rape culture, we have a lot of “growing up” to do. I think a new understanding of manliness has to engulf an understanding that rape culture, sexual assault, gender issues, and issues of that nature are not “women issues.” They are very much male issues, too. Related, I would highly recommend one of my favorite TED Talks:
We can’t tune those issues out, as he says.
Milam's Musings 
Rape culture, sexual assault, gender issues, and issues of that nature are both biological females’ issues and biological males’ issues. Raped and abused males are overlooked more than raped and abused females because of sexist double standards, feminazis, woketivists, and #MeToo nazis.
Hardwired biology makes biological females be emotionally unstable, weaker, and mentally challenged more than biological males. Because hardwired biology makes biological males have stronger bodies, healthier brains, less emotion that prevents them from having psychological instability, and higher I.Q.s due to larger brain volume from biological males. This is why it can be inevitable for average women doing female-dominated jobs preventing them from having physical injuries and psychological stress because of not being able to easily do tasks requiring an above average I.Q. such as computer science, engineering, inventing new technology, etc. So, I wouldn’t be surprised that females would be “nurturing children” while men are the ones inventing new things, competing in the economy, getting involved in the militaries, becoming physically stronger in the sports industry, and getting paid more than females on average.
You mentioned how you can’t hunt, fish, be handy, and willingly be involved in most sports, right? You also mentioned your emotional state when exposed to high art and having your heart on a sleeve while liking cooking and cleaning for relaxation.
Personally as a biological female, I have psychological instability because of seasonal change that affects my reproductive system that also affects my emotions. If I were to remove my reproductive system in my body, increase the amount of testosterone in my body, and increase the brain volume in my head, my emotions would be removed entirely and I would behave more like a psychopath. I only think stealing, cheating, lying, killing someone against their will, and other things are “wrong” because I’m not interested in people stealing things from me, cheating to betray me, lying to keep truths from me, and killing me against my will. I don’t have an excellent moral system at all. As a biological female, I thought females are trained to be retarded pawns for men’s cruel political game of patriarchy when I was a child. Because I had a very dark imagination, I had a temper, and I hated the human specie when I was growing up. I thought the human specie was pathetically weak and stupid. I found out that I’ve got P.C.O.S. It basically means that I’ve got a mutation of male hormones making me behave more masculine than feminine. Also, I inherited masculine personality traits from my biological father and his male ancestors without P.C.O.S. because I have an ancestry of militarians, multiskilled farmers, entrepreneurs, hunters, bullies, etc. So, I’m basically the more emotional and slightly more feminine version of my biological father. Like my father, I’m a pet behaviourist that’s able to trap, hunt, and cook animals.
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