Do you think men are losing their masculinity?

Nathan said:
These "standards" are culturally linked, ideas embedded in various societies. As this forum attracts English speakers then these concepts of masculinity are what "we" identify with, in our related cultures.
Can you imagine seeing men walking down the street in the U.S. holding hands? In Arab countries, North Africa, some parts of Asia and traditionally in some Mediterranean and Southern European cultures (especially in Sicily), males also hold hands for friendship and as a sign of respect.
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I wish men were like that in our culture. I think it would be nice seeing two men holding hands as a sign of friendship and respect.
Unfortunately they would be targeted as being homosexual which is truly sad. 🙁
And I know my post will be scorned at.
 
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I don’t know if the newer male generations are losing their masculinity or redefining it. I do feel they are losing, or never developing, skills we traditionally think of as male. So many of the young men today have no ability at the very basic electrical, plumbing, carpentry skills older generations have.
Maybe you don’t need basic home maintenance skills if you can’t afford to buy a house.

I also think young men today are enabled to stay at the adolescent stage on into their twenties. Even thirties.
 
Thread title is too generalized"

Do you think men are losing their masculinity?​


should be narrowly:

Do you think SOME men are losing their masculinity?​

Absolutely. But not many in my older generation and rather a younger generation issue for some I have little to comment on.
 
MountainRa said:
I don’t know if the newer male generations are losing their masculinity or redefining it. I do feel they are losing, or never developing, skills we traditionally think of as male. So many of the young men today have no ability at the very basic electrical, plumbing, carpentry skills older generations have.
Maybe you don’t need basic home maintenance skills if you can’t afford to buy a house.

I also think young men today are enabled to stay at the adolescent stage on into their twenties. Even thirties.
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That's an interesting point. When I think of masculinity, I think of strength of character, standing behind his word, not taking on graceful, feminine movements as his own, having a strong, courageous mind or trying to shave his natural body hair and wear make-up to look more like a woman, behave like a woman.
Of course, I grew up in an ole Montana cow town where men only said "Yep" or "Nope". They had a masculine "stance" about them. I'm not saying to go back to cowboy mentality but @MountainRa, it DOES seem men retain adolescence far into adulthood.

As a whole, they seem to have a weakness and a fear about them. Are we asking too much of them? Are women stronger than men?
Does it seem to you that as men become more feminine, women are becoming more masculine? (just random thoughts)
 
Some are and some are not! However, what I have noticed over the last few years are the following 2 factors:

1. Men are getting bald headed in their 20s. When I was a kid the only bald headed man I knew what Yul Brenner in "The King and I." Now, it looks like 1/2 of the male population of Canada are bald headed.

2. The lazy shaver. Many men have had beards in the past and took good care of those beards. Now, we have the new breed here in Canada that look just like this picture I am enclosing. Big unkept beard and walking around in shorts all day that I suspect they also sleep in. Maybe I'm wrong but I see a lot of these guys around, looking like some sort of Cave man.
 

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Well testosterone is normally associated with masculinity, and according to studies testosterone levels are dropping at about 10% per decade.
This is not a new trend. Seventy-year-old men in 1987-89 had an average testosterone level that was almost 100 points higher than even 55-year-old men in 2002-04. Meaning that the average 22 year old man today, has an average testosterone level roughly equal to that of a 67 year old man in 2000. Therefore, it’s likely that your testosterone levels are half of those of your father and undoubtedly significantly less than your grandfather.
We just may not be noticing it because it's the new norm. That doesn't mean someone is not masculine, but you can't deny the data.
 
MountainRa said:
I don’t know if the newer male generations are losing their masculinity or redefining it. I do feel they are losing, or never developing, skills we traditionally think of as male. So many of the young men today have no ability at the very basic electrical, plumbing, carpentry skills older generations have.
Maybe you don’t need basic home maintenance skills if you can’t afford to buy a house.

I also think young men today are enabled to stay at the adolescent stage on into their twenties. Even thirties.
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Your understanding of masculinity is once again a cultural thing. In Germany in the late forties and fifties there was no such thing as DIY. A room needed painting, you called the painter, a faucet leaked, you called the plumber. We grew up with no clue when it came to being "practical!" You know what I am getting at!

Would Goethe and Schiller or Beethoven or Haendel be considered to be less masculine, just because their talents lay elsewhere! My talent was in the writing of 48 sermons a year over a period of 23 years while trying to keep my congregations awake! And to this day, I rely on my Son-In-Law to do the minor "practical" chores for me! Do you hear me, scoffers? Are you willing to admit now that my masculinity and that of other creative people, who can't drive a straight nail, might nevertheless still be fully intact?

Or are you still attracted to the bad boys and judge manliness by their conduct and abilities?
 
Pepper said:
Elaborate please. How so?
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Mostly through movies and serials, but also modern literature, the internet and the media.

Even worse, today's parenting classes have a whole chapter on how to raise boys to be "non-aggressive."

That said, I suppose evolution is playing a part in taming the testosterone. When it isn't needed, it will likely disappear.
 
Murrmurr said:
Mostly through movies and serials, but also modern literature, the internet and the media.

Even worse, today's parenting classes have a whole chapter on how to raise boys to be "non-aggressive."

That said, I suppose evolution is playing a part in taming the testosterone. When it isn't needed, it will likely disappear.
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I agree with your observations, @Murrmurr Since I am a medical ignoramus I have to ask: with the disappearance of testosterone, wouldn't we also stop procreating?
 
Pepper said:
How? What? Fill me in, be as specific as you can, I'm really interested.
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I also think a lot of harm is being done in our universities as well, whose professors encourage a hyper sensitivity toward others. Making everyone feeling hard done by, by others, by ideas they find offensive, encouraging them to go back thirty years to "cancel" someone who said something that is no longer acceptable today! "Woke" culture grew from that!
 
Old Salt said:
I agree with your observations, @Murrmurr Since I am a medical ignoramus I have to ask: with the disappearance of testosterone, wouldn't we also stop procreating?
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I suppose the nature of testosterone would change. Or maybe I should say it's effects. But it's possible that evolution will one day decrease fertility and reduce an overcrowded population. That happens with wild animals, setting aside human intervention.
 
Old Salt said:
I also think a lot of harm is being done in our universities as well, whose professors encourage a hyper sensitivity toward others. Making everyone feeling hard done by, by others, by ideas they find offensive, encouraging them to go back thirty years to "cancel" someone who said something that is no longer acceptable today! "Woke" culture grew from that!
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I see that as a threat to ALL sexes!
 
Murrmurr said:
I suppose the nature of testosterone would change. Or maybe I should say it's effects. But it's possible that evolution will one day decrease fertility and reduce an overcrowded population. That happens with wild animals, setting aside human intervention.
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That's real smart (((Frank)))!!!
 

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