How many roads must a man walk down?

In a conversation, a friend asked me to define manliness. I thought about it, but I cannot. What ever personality trait you can think of, I bet you have at least one manly friend who lacks it.

What makes a man?
Some would say genitals, but that falls on the fact that some men have micropenises (WARNING, graphic pictures!) and some women have enlarged clitorises (ALSO graphic!), and where do you draw the line between?
Facial hair? Some men don't have it, while some women do.
Chromosomes? No, turns out, it's not that easy either. The statement that men have XY and women XX is no longer true. There are all sorts of varieties.

I don't fit the gender binary. It has happened to me that strangers ask me if I'm a man or a woman. I usually just smile and say I'm a little bit of both. I am, in my own humble opinion, the perfect partner for a straight man. I am a guy to hang out with, drink with, discuss "manly" topics with, but I'm also physically female which is good in some, private, contexts.
I don't like it when others point out to me that I am both, as they're trying to convince me that I'm female too. That makes me less prone to show any "female" personality trait. People that let me be a shapeshifter, often get to see the whole range of gender expressions from me.

I call myself a man. I'm not the run-of-the-mill kind of man, but who is? Show me a man who can claim to be all man (as in fit every stereotype of what a man is, and none of the stereotype female traits at all), and I'll show you a liar.
Some people wants me to prove I'm a man, that I fit the stereotype, but each man is his own version of how  a man is, and what a man looks like.

How many roads must a man walk down, before you call him a man?

Kommentarer
Postat av: Evis

For me your definitely a guy. I can't say why though, because as you say you can't really pinpoint what makes a man. It is more of a feeling than a list of "required masculine traits" I think.

2010-03-03 @ 18:42:05
URL: http://omstil.blogg.se/

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