The title can seem unrelated to flare at first glance, but hear me out. Everything considered stereotypically "masculine" can be sometimes entirely dependent on external factors and always is dependent on them at least in a small extent.

  1. Fast and/or expensive cars? Typically propagated by ppl born in wealthy families, ironically idealised by worker class.
  2. Gym physique? Typically advertised by guys with better genetics or bone structure, and nearly always accompanied by body dysmorphia unless you have at least 100k followers on IG. Healthy BMI, fat percentage, hormone levels, joints and spine are all you really need.
  3. Deep voice and smoking? Bitch please.
  4. Attractiveness perceived by women? Guys with model-tier jawlines and at least 6 feet height are trying to assert a monopoly on it. Trust me, there are women who can establish a relationship with guys with dad bods and without facial hair. There may be some scientific evidence to the fact that guys without the face of a model and height of a viking warrior will have a tad more trouble finding someone, but they are not ruled out to zero.
  5. Guns? The one and only country from where content promoting them comes out is America (especially from Texans) so either you are buying a plane ticket to there or say goodbye to your masculinity.
  6. "Emotional control"? The whole concept comes from two harmful beliefs. First one is that a man can't show any emotions. You're feeling lonely? I bet you're an incel. You feel enthusiastic about sb, or you put on a smile on your face? You're a creep. You're angry about sth? You're toxic. You feel sad? What a weak pussy. You put on a serious face? You look threatening. The second belief says that ALL women are drama queens, which is a mistake by design, and I refuse to elaborate.
  7. Risk-taking? Typically promoted by guys who have made a bad financial decision or are gamblers. Both of them will try with all their might and brilliance to justify their actions, but both of those stem from either lacking intelligence or relying too much on your instincts.

And lastly, what is the purpose of all those attributes? I bet they would say "life satisfaction" and look at me like I was dumb or like I triggered an answer that is a truism for them. But look at it without all the fuss: life satisfaction should be a thing that emerges from itself, comes from life as-is. So what is the point in denying sb's right to enjoy their life? There is the answer. You either prove that you are better than the standard in some way, or you prove that you are normal, but it is someone else who is worse than the standard.

My point is that every single stereotypically masculine attribute has been cemented into our society by flawed logic, toxic nature, ppl from wealthy families or advantageous genetics. I think feminists are right about masculinity being toxic. Confidence and responsibility are mentioned (typically by men) as qualities that are "masculine but healthy" or sth like that, but it's flawed logic. Those attributes are not exclusive to only one gender. I think it's high time we started to see that the division between feminine and masculine personality traits doesn't make sense. There are only healthy or harmful ones.

I tried to write this initially as an answer to sb's post, but it came out so long that I decided to post it separately.