What makes a man a man ?

Anything to do with gender and the status of women and men.

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duszek
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What makes a man a man ?

Post by duszek »

A new course of study has been established in New York City (I don´t remember the name of the university), about the essence of masculinity.

What can you contribute, brothers ?
Only serious and substantial stuff, please.
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Hobbes' Choice
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Re: What makes a man a man ?

Post by Hobbes' Choice »

Masculinity is a dichotomy with a limited reach, that can only be understood through its opposition: femininity.
As there is very few mutually exclusive characteristics, people tend to find extremes and nominate those for attribution.

For example. Both men and women have strength, and though there are many women stronger than some men, the strongest man is usually regarded as stronger than the strongest women. So though strength is also an attribute of a woman, men are considered "strong", leaving women with "weakness" as an attribute.
The consequence of "typical" thinking means that if a woman shows strength then she is considered unfeminine, or if a man show weakness he is considered "feminine".

You can apply the same formula in reverse to "caring" and careless", and any number of other attributes.

This is all just bullshit. In this way myths are created.

This way we build sexist stereotypes so we can carry the burden of prejudice which we so love.
duszek
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Re: What makes a man a man ?

Post by duszek »

But if a man lacks physical strength or is even physically disabled (wheel-chair etc.) can he compensate by intellectual strength and will power ?

Stephen Hawkins, Wolfgang Schäuble, ....
Skip
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Re: What makes a man a man ?

Post by Skip »

IF
Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!
Impenitent
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Re: What makes a man a man ?

Post by Impenitent »

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HexHammer
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Re: What makes a man a man ?

Post by HexHammer »

Each century will have a different definition, but usually it's compulsions, hormones, brain patters, voice, behaviour ..etc.
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henry quirk
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Post by henry quirk »

"What makes a man a man ?"

Everything (physicality, psychology, etc.) extends out from, is founded in, for a man, the XY pair.

For a woman, it's the XX pair.

Anything, everything, else is just shifting (and shifty) cultural horse manure.

Any man who needs a course to 'be' a man is profoundly cut off from his own flesh.
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Hobbes' Choice
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Re:

Post by Hobbes' Choice »

henry quirk wrote:"What makes a man a man ?"

Everything (physicality, psychology, etc.) extends out from, is founded in, for a man, the XY pair.

For a woman, it's the XX pair.

Anything, everything, else is just shifting (and shifty) cultural horse manure.

Any man who needs a course to 'be' a man is profoundly cut off from his own flesh.
The XY, XX configuration is only an approximation, and not determining. There are XYY men and also XXY men. Chromosomes are collections of genes, not the units of inheritability.
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vegetariantaxidermy
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Re: What makes a man a man ?

Post by vegetariantaxidermy »

Actually it's been scientifically proven that there are male and female brains. Some men have more strongly female brains and vice versa. Apparently those with a female brain have a ring finger that's the same length or shorter than their index finger. The male brainers have a ring finger that's longer than the index finger.

http://www.newseveryday.com/articles/15 ... -brain.htm
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Hobbes' Choice
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Re: What makes a man a man ?

Post by Hobbes' Choice »

vegetariantaxidermy wrote:Actually it's been scientifically proven that there are male and female brains. Some men have more strongly female brains and vice versa. Apparently those with a female brain have a ring finger that's the same length or shorter than their index finger. The male brainers have a ring finger that's longer than the index finger.

http://www.newseveryday.com/articles/15 ... -brain.htm
The phrase "female brain" is question begging. Since there are not absolute differences between masculinity and femininity, attracting mythical and caricaturing categorisation, as I said above, there can be no such thing. And your link leaves much to be desired in quality.
It's hardly an academic paper, just pseudo-scientific mumbo jumbo on the level of astrology or phrenology.
It does not even say what you say it does.
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vegetariantaxidermy
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Re: What makes a man a man ?

Post by vegetariantaxidermy »

Hobbes' Choice wrote:
vegetariantaxidermy wrote:Actually it's been scientifically proven that there are male and female brains. Some men have more strongly female brains and vice versa. Apparently those with a female brain have a ring finger that's the same length or shorter than their index finger. The male brainers have a ring finger that's longer than the index finger.

http://www.newseveryday.com/articles/15 ... -brain.htm
The phrase "female brain" is question begging. Since there are not absolute differences between masculinity and femininity, attracting mythical and caricaturing categorisation, as I said above, there can be no such thing. And your link leaves much to be desired in quality.
It's hardly an academic paper.
I take it you have found your fingers 'wanting'. There's nothing wrong with having a female brain Hobbes. And the article doesn't say it's 'absolute'. I pointed out that men can have brains that are more 'female'. Are you disputing that men have more testosterone than women too?
Perhaps we should just do away with the myth of gender altogether then? We will all just be non-sexuals, since gender is just a figment of our collective imagination. :D
I have however noticed on here that women are quick to show appreciation for comments they like, whether from male or female, while the men on here only do that for other male posters. The males on here aren't above stealing the ideas of women posters though, or posting their ideas and passing them off as their own, without acknowledgement of the original poster. Just saying.
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Hobbes' Choice
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Re: What makes a man a man ?

Post by Hobbes' Choice »

vegetariantaxidermy wrote:
Hobbes' Choice wrote:
vegetariantaxidermy wrote:Actually it's been scientifically proven that there are male and female brains. Some men have more strongly female brains and vice versa. Apparently those with a female brain have a ring finger that's the same length or shorter than their index finger. The male brainers have a ring finger that's longer than the index finger.

http://www.newseveryday.com/articles/15 ... -brain.htm
The phrase "female brain" is question begging. Since there are not absolute differences between masculinity and femininity, attracting mythical and caricaturing categorisation, as I said above, there can be no such thing. And your link leaves much to be desired in quality.
It's hardly an academic paper.
I take it you have found your fingers 'wanting'. There's nothing wrong with having a female brain Hobbes. And the article doesn't say it's 'absolute'. I pointed out that men can have brains that are more 'female'. Are you disputing that men have more testosterone than women too?
Perhaps we should just do away with the myth of gender altogether then? We will all just be non-sexuals, since gender is just a figment of our collective imagination. :D
I have however noticed on here that women are quick to show appreciation for comments they like, whether from male or female, while the men on here only do that for other male posters. The males on here aren't above stealing the ideas of women posters though, or posting their ideas and passing them off as their own, without acknowledgement of the original poster. Just saying.
Did you read my first contribution to this thread?

I did not do the finger test. It's no more relevant to my gender than the length of my "life line" on my palm is to the length of my life, nor the shape of my skull is to my intelligence.


PS. Thumb position relates to hand dominance, not brain 'gender' what every that is.
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vegetariantaxidermy
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Re: What makes a man a man ?

Post by vegetariantaxidermy »

I would have initially pooh-poohed it too, but I was watching a documentary about it the other night and looked into it some more. It's a bit more scientific than palm-reading. Obviously we ARE our brain, there IS such a thing as differences between the genders, and therefore there ARE going to be differences in the brains of males and females! Be as PC as you like, that doesn't alter the facts.
Last edited by vegetariantaxidermy on Mon Aug 31, 2015 12:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Hobbes' Choice
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Re: What makes a man a man ?

Post by Hobbes' Choice »

vegetariantaxidermy wrote:I would have initially been sceptical too, but I was watching a documentary about it the other night and looked into it some more. It's a bit more scientific than palm-reading.
Which documentary?
And what does "female brain" mean?
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vegetariantaxidermy
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Re: What makes a man a man ?

Post by vegetariantaxidermy »

Hobbes' Choice wrote:
vegetariantaxidermy wrote:I would have initially been sceptical too, but I was watching a documentary about it the other night and looked into it some more. It's a bit more scientific than palm-reading.
Which documentary?
And what does "female brain" mean?
The brain of a female.
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