What differentiates masculinity from femininity?

Nath43673 · 2020-08-06T01:53:35+00:00

I think people are perfectly entitled to take the view that there is no difference or to be gender abolitionists. But I don't think you'd find most people (outside of a particular framework for understanding gender that is popular in subs like menslib) agreeing that there is no difference or that the terms are meaningless. Trans people fit into the discussion too, but I don't know enough to be able to speak on their behalf.

If it's just a semantic discussion, then look up the Wikipedia definition for each word and go nuts.

I'd say many people see these words as referring to traits or properties (social and/or biological) associated with being male or female. They are generalisations inasmuch as there are always exceptions in both directions and across each of the different traits or properties.

For many, the two words also refer to social roles and expectations placed on men/women (one of the reasons terms like TM are prone to confusion).

The notion of a distinction between male and female being real and significant is common to at least a few spiritualities and religions as variously interpreted (eg. the Taoist notion of Ying and Yang, in the Abrahamic faiths: "In God's image, male and female God created them").

Personally, I like the view that says virtues are universal, but men can draw on "masculine energy" to achieve and embody them, just as women can draw on "feminine" energy.

In terms of community and society going forward, I think ignoring gender or trying to make it go away is probably a mistake, because biology still asserts itself in some ways. I'm ambivalent about this. I have no interest in someone I don't respect or trust telling me what a man should be or do, but I also think we've done boys and men a huge disservice by chucking thousands of years of accumulated wisdom, rite and ritual into the rubbish bin.

smeltaway · 2020-08-06T06:41:35+00:00

From a scientific perspective, the averages of men and women are very close in many traits (those I've looked at are around a 1/2 standard deviation off or so), and each person has some of each so there aren't any traits that exclusively belong to one side or another. However, when you look at traits as a whole, men almost always have a preponderance of masculine traits and women almost always have a preponderance of feminine traits.

So, what makes a man masculine or a woman feminine is the gestalt of their personality, not specific traits that must be assigned to one gender or the other.

Great article on it here: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/beautiful-minds/taking-sex-differences-in-personality-seriously/

turbulance4 · 2020-08-06T12:07:37+00:00

Difficult to answer as gender norms will very drastically by population. I think I prefer to take a more scientific approach. I'm making the assumption that masculinity and feminity refer to personality as opposed to physical traits (which might say something like masculinity is tallness).

According to this study, on average women rate higher in agreeableness and neuroticism. And while conscientiousness levels are similar, women tend to express higher levels of the orderliness subcomponent of conscientiousness.

So I'm short: femininity is agreeableness, neuroticism, and orderliness. Masculinity is the opposite. This statement can get much more nuanced with a deeper read of the article.

PurpleBanner · 2020-08-06T15:52:40+00:00

What differentiates masculinity from femininity?

The answer is simple: women have womanhood forced on them by the monthly cycle, where as men must choose to become men.

Blauwpetje · 2020-08-08T14:12:52+00:00

I don't doubt on average there are differences, and not so small either. That doesn't mean people shouldn't be free to choose their own lifestyle apart from gender roles, but it means even less society should actively abandon those roles, use affirmative action where there is no equality of outcome, use education to attack 'stereotypes' etc.

SonnBaz · 2020-08-06T22:22:34+00:00

There is difference but it shouldn't be there.Liberty for all.

Ipoopinurtea · 2020-08-08T12:01:32+00:00

They are quite similar, gender roles are by their very nature the suppression of ones nature to conform to an expected role or set of behaviours in order to be worthy of love. It's a box within which you must think and act in a particular way and are denied affection for stepping outside of it. Both men and women suppress their emotions. Men suppress all the non aggressive type emotions, women suppress all aggressive type emotions. Although it's important to remember that men also suppress anger (just to a lesser degree than women) and women also suppress emotions like sadness (just to a lesser degree than men). Men must be tough, stoic and disagreeable. Women must be kind, delicate and agreeable. This is why its more socially acceptable for women to cry but not so socially acceptable for her to get mad. Notice how when a man cries he's called a "Bitch" and when a woman gets mad she's called the same. Generally speaking the role placed on men is more harsh, the expected set of behaviours is more restrictive and the education given to boys to mould them into this is more violent and cruel. "Toxic masculinity" (for lack of a better term) is simply the trauma of men who have been brutalised as children and as such, now exhibit violent and destructive behaviours as adults. This violence can be externalised and internalised. When externalised it takes the form of violent crime, when internalised it takes the form of suicide. The degree of violence is the degree to which one is traumatised. Women can also kill and that is their violence but the problem is mainly one of male suffering. Feminism started as a movement to free women from femininity and has done much to this end. They are not completely free yet but they are freer than they were. Men have not been freed to nearly the same extent. Notice that you hear about "Tomboys" but rarely about "Tomgirls". This is because it's more acceptable (especially in the modern day) for a woman to step outside of her role. Still she is mostly expected to behave a certain way, that is femininity. Another aspect of the female role is the suppression of sexuality. Both genders do this but women do it more (this btw is why many women enjoy rough sex, it allows them to enjoy sex without feeling guilt because it is being "done to them"). On the other side an aspect of masculinity is the need for sexual conquest to prove his worth as a man. This is why men are more sexually aggressive on average and explains part of the whole "Metoo" movement. However it's also true that women exaggerate their sexual victimisation and this is due to their sexual suppression and the guilt that is a consequence.

Title	What differentiates masculinity from femininity?
Author	MMDT
Upvotes	4
Comments	19
Date	August 6, 2020 12:13 AM UTC (6 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/LeftWingMaleAdvocates
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/LeftWingMaleAdvocates/comments/i4h62z/what_differentiates_masculinity_from_femininity/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/LeftWingMaleAdvocates/what-differentiates-masculinity-from-femininity.1063015 https://theredarchive.com/post/1063015

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