Funny, isn't it, how masculinity seems to be based on what you do, rather than what you are?

Given this paradigm, a man must necessarily continually do to be and stay masculine, while femininity seems to be based more on what you are.

Sure, a woman might be considered masculine if she does things that are typically associated with masculinity. But can you take away a woman's femininity?

Consider that there is no term for this, while a commonly used term exists for the Inverse - emasculation, essentially to "take away" a man's masculinity.

In this sense, "being" a man is more complicated than "being" a woman, If we define one's being as a function of the presence or lack of masculinity/femininity, or masculine/feminine energy - whatever you want to call it.

In line with that thinking, some have even discussed masculinity as a sort of burden men must bear.

Much of this modern talk seems quite unhelpful though, so I think we might as well throw it in the garbage where it belongs, and redefine masculinity for ourselves.

To be clear, that does say, for ourselves, which means that ideally, you will redefine masculinity for yourself.

First, lets get something straight.
Toxic Masculinity - a term commandeered and misappropriated by the Feminist Movement.

Toxic Masculinity was a term invented by men in the 1980s, for the purpose of helping redefine masculinity.

It was called the Mythopoetic Men's Movement.

The idea was to label what they considered bad Ideals of masculinity as "toxic," and thus inferior to a nontoxic form of what they considered "real" or "deep" masculinity, which they also defined and favored.

You'll probably note some distinctions between this use and the current use, which seems to have been especially confusing to men - as if the average man doesn't struggle enough in silence with the idea of what being a man and being "masculine" means to himself, without adding in the idea that for some reason this whole activity might be 'toxic' to begin with.

If you've thoroughly figured this out for you, then feel proud! Most men don't actually find this easy. So if you're not there yet, fear not.

It's another of life's journeys, just one unique to men, just as women have their own journeys that men don't typically experience. Let's all grow together, always.

All this being said, my only agenda is to persuade you that it's beneficial for you to figure out what being masculine means to You, because It made me feel a lot happier, more secure, and more masculine in the ways that matter to me, not to the world.

There are aspects of you that exist outside of what you have been culturally conditioned to feel through TV, Movies, Media, etc.

There are differences in the ways men and women think, behave, and communicate that seem to go deeper than culture, and you can explore these polarities to see what they mean to you.

Women have an entire movement, guys...Men actually kind of need a movement.

Just a much less obvious one. It's not as simple as "Equal Rights," for very obvious reasons.... Haha.

Side note - be careful not to fall into any "Men's Rights" traps, those tend to be extreme and not necessarily based on a balanced view of men and women.

It would benefit us to redefine masculinity - not even for women, but for us - for men.

Let's start a discussion - What does being masculine mean to You as a man?

If you're a woman, please start your comment with "Female Perspective" so we know it's a female perspective - I am also interested in getting women's raw opinions of what they find masculine, and not.

If we get some of those, maybe we can break it down and figure out what's working behind the scenes - like where does that idea of masculinity come from, and is it accurate, controllable, ...? etc.

Not sure exactly what you feel yet? Feel free to post whatever's on your mind

This is a no-hate, creative & productive environment - let's discuss this, because everyone's thoughts help, including yours.