Why does embracing the feminine = repressing the masculine?

Question

Isn't there room for them all?

When I go do something blokey, I don't feel manly, I just feel like a smug girl, and I think it's cute. Why would a guy feel threatened by feminine stuff? Doesn't he already know he's a rough hewn hunk of a man who could look like a stud in anything?

So why do some people feel so threatened by the 'feminine', is it just personal inclination, or is excessive masculinity very fragile? And do you think some women have as much of an aversion to the masculine and if so why? :-)

Answer 1

When one truly embraces the feminine this in turn strengthens the masculine; not fight against it.  When the masculine is strengthened so is the feminine.

And Also, a feminine woman has the knack of being assertive without resorting to being a (the term used for female dog)

Answer 2

Notice how many answerers claim that total masculinity is expressed for the sake of WOMEN. As if.

Excessive anything is very fragile. Someone who is secure in one will be perfectly able to make room for the other.

Answer 3

For the same reason that heterosexual women can share a bed in a hotel room without it being a big deal, yet very few heterosexual men would do this.

Answer 4

Heterosexual women don't like feminine men.

I don't feel threatened by "feminine stuff" at all, I've thrown on a dress on few different occasions and had fun.

Would you feel comfortable with a buzz cut and working boots?

Probably not, so you type there, oh, masculinity is this and that because some men might feel uncomfortable wearing a dress. or whatever.

Without realising that if the situation was reversed you would feel the same.

It was feminism that is pushing for repression of masculinity, its not something men are choosing to do.

Answer 5

By bracing our femininity we are making room for masculinity to shine.

Answer 6

I don't think many men are threatened by the 'feminine', it's always women who say we are and how would they know.

Answer 7

This is the 2nd question today that I've seen where a feminist wants to tell men how they should act, as if men want to do feminine things. If men wanted to do it, then they would. In fact, there are feminine men. So if a guy doesn't act a certain way, it's because he doesn't want to. Feminists don't like men telling them what they must do to be feminine or a woman, so stop telling men what they must do.

Someone who is secure does what they want to do and doesn't need any feminists telling them how they should act.

Answer 8

Of course there is room for both the masculine and the feminine within us all.  However, most of us have been socialized and "rewarded" for embracing the masculine or feminine aspects of ourselves which match our s*x.  In my experience, men who are most confident with their masculinity are also those who are least concerned about expressing feminine aspects of themselves.  I can't say if the same is true for women and femininity.  However, the culturally defined roles of masculine and feminine are somewhat in opposition.  Masculinity / feminity is seen by some as a dimension or a continuum of traits.  If you accept this definition, then as you move up or down the continuum, there is more of one and less of the other.  The analogy of this type of conceptualization would be introversion / extraversion.  Behaving in an extraverted manner means, by definition, that you are suppressing introverted behaviour.  As I said above, I think it is only a problem when there is discordance.  And then, it is a societal / cultural issue.  I will say that there is greater prohibition against feminine men than masculine women.  What if you're not a rough-hewn hunk of a guy?  What if your a wifty, sensitive type?  You may not be threatened by feminine stuff, but you're certainly going to be viewed differently if you express yourself in a manner viewed as feminine.

Answer 9

I'm confident even you would look at me funny if I went and got breast implants.

Answer 10

Embracing femininity isn't the problem as women should be feminine.  The problem is that, in modern Western society masculinity is being frown upon and feminized ideas are being forced down men and boys throat

Answer 11

it's just that people worry too much about cultural stereotypes.