We need to get some ground rules covered, because I read threads in here where people will attribute a certain behavior as masculine, and then turn around and attribute a similar behavior as feminine, with no underlying consistency.

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To break this down, let's start by analyzing masculine vs. feminine music. The iconic examples (while attempting to match genres as close as possible) are Deftones (feminine) vs. Metallica (masculine).

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Deftones - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvknOXGPzCQ

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Metallica - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEQnzs8wl6E

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Note that just because a song is emotional or elicits emotion does not make it feminine. In fact, masculine songs often have sharp, intense, straightforward emotion. It is more about the complexity of the emotions and ambiguity of said emotions that determine whether or not a song is masculine or feminine. In general:

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  • Music tends to be more feminine when it possesses aspects of romanticism, provokes complex introspection and reflection in the listener, is ambiguous about the meaning/message of the song, and is more complex/unpredictable in terms of rhythm, beat, time signature, etc. (ie, kind of slow-dancy, waltzy, lingering)
  • Music tends to be more masculine when it expresses a message without ambiguity, has a more uniform and measured beat, provokes only simple introspection, and follows a more predictable rhythm. (ie, tribal, hammering)

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So how does this help us define masculine and feminine behavior in human beings? Well, expanding on the ideas we touched on earlier, we can reach a few axioms:

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  • Both masculine or feminine can be emotional (or as it will be referred to later: expressive)
  • Feminine is introspective/reflective
  • Masculine is non-introspective/non-reflective

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From here, we reach four different archetypes:

  • Non-introspective/non-reflective, non-expressive = the stoic (masculine)
  • Non-introspective/non-reflective, expressive = the active mirror (masculine)
  • Introspective/reflective, non-expressive = the passive mirror (feminine)
  • Introspective/reflective, expressive = the emotive (feminine)

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Let's take an example of each one taking criticism:

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  • The stoic: Does not reflect on the criticism, does not emote that the criticism had any effect on him/her
  • The active mirror: Does not reflect on the criticism, instead experiences surface level emotion and mirrors the criticism back onto them ("no you're a cunt")
  • The passive mirror: Reflects on the criticism, internalizes it and uses it for self-growth or, in a more negative scenario, engages in passive aggression or attempts to make it known that the criticism had no effect on them
  • The emotive: Reflects on the criticism, internalizes it and expresses how it makes him/her feel ("why would you say that to me?")

If anyone has any questions, leave a comment. If you think I'm full of shit, leave a comment. If you find inconsistencies in the theory, leave a comment. See ya.