Question

[Ro****]

The physical strength is just the tool; the masculinity is the character that chooses to use that tool in a dangerous environment to serve a greater purpose. Showing stoicism, mental grit, competence and mindful problem solving. Those are masculine traits.

[Ge****]

2 hours ago, RogueLynx said:

The physical strength is just the tool; the masculinity is the character that chooses to use that tool in a dangerous environment to serve a greater purpose. Showing stoicism, mental grit, competence and mindful problem solving. Those are masculine traits.

This

[cu****]

3 hours ago, RogueLynx said:

The physical strength is just the tool; the masculinity is the character that chooses to use that tool in a dangerous environment to serve a greater purpose. Showing stoicism, mental grit, competence and mindful problem solving. Those are masculine traits.

Beautifully said. Thank you for saying what I couldnt find the words for.

[Deleted Member]

No, because all men age and with that naturally comes a decrease in physical strength. Men who are in and under authority know this.

Think military, law en***ment, martial arts, fraternal orders etc. Anything with a hearchy or chain of command.

The guy running the place, the general, el heffe is usually an older guy. He's generally not going to beat the young buck in an arm or floor wrestling match. The strength of his youth has faded but he's still in charge. All the other parts of masculinity is a large reason why.

[wo****]

1 hour ago, BadBunnyWanted said:

No, because all men age and with that naturally comes a decrease in physical strength. Men who are in and under authority know this.

Think military, law en***ment, martial arts, fraternal orders etc. Anything with a hearchy or chain of command.

The guy running the place, the general, el heffe is usually an older guy. He's generally not going to beat the young buck in an arm or floor wrestling match. The strength of his youth has faded but he's still in charge. All the other parts of masculinity is a large reason why.

I like what you say about hierarchy, chain of command, leadership. About the physical strength and it decreasing with age. I think all men know this and all women too. As far as strength in men decreasing with age, I think is a good argument for why it’s not the only form of masculinity. Adding in your point about leadership, a general, him running things and controlling the young soldiers only adds to show that the masculine qualities he has are much more valuable and important in comparison to the young soldiers’ strength.
I see wide agreement that physical strength isn’t the only form of masculinity. Personally, I would find the claim that it is absurd.
I think a lot of traits can be used to do both bad and good. Physical strength and leadership skills mentioned in this post can all be used for both bad and good as well.

[so****]

Being physically strong is only part of being masculine....it's you as a whole with all things considered personality also a part taken in to consideration makes a male

[ne****]

I think there's as many way to be masculine as there are men. Being masculine doesn't say much by itself: pink used to be a very manly color, masculine men wore heels and stockings at some point.

[Mi****]

I think it would be healthier for all people to start thinking of masculine & feminine as yin and yang. We all possess both, much like hormones, but it’s the amount of specific behaviors that will decide where you end up on that scale.

Masculinity I believe is being brave, confident, positive, protective, etc.

[li****]

I don't think being physically strong is even A form of masculinity.

[Pe****]

Physical strength is incredibly sexy, but it's not limited to a gender. Tbh, it's annoying that men are so selfish that they think of physical strength as something only they can possess. Masculinity has nothing to do with physical strength. Being a man in 2026 has nothing to do with how much you can bench.

[wo****]

5 hours ago, PebblesCailloux said:

Physical strength is incredibly sexy, but it's not limited to a gender. Tbh, it's annoying that men are so selfish that they think of physical strength as something only they can possess. Masculinity has nothing to do with physical strength. Being a man in 2026 has nothing to do with how much you can bench.

Interesting strawman. Lie about men, accuse them for being selfish for something you made up and isn’t any part of reality.
Men are bad (selfish) for thinking x.
But men don’t think x.
In all my life I have never heard of a man thinking that. It’s preposterous. But you are annoyed because you imagine that they do.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and beliefs. When someone’s beliefs are absurd, and they are irritated at men for something that exists only in their own mind, it’s hard to take anything they say about men seriously.

[Ba****]

Wait… how is it “selfish” to point at sexual dimorphism and say “look, a thing”??
And nobody serious is saying that only men can be physically strong, it’s a generalization on the level of “most humans are female”
I mean no offense but that looks like a straw man built with pure projection

[wo****]

6 hours ago, Barthold said:

Wait… how is it “selfish” to point at sexual dimorphism and say “look, a thing”??
And nobody serious is saying that only men can be physically strong, it’s a generalization on the level of “most humans are female”
I mean no offense but that looks like a straw man built with pure projection

“TBH it’s annoying that men are so selfish that they think of physical strength as something only they can possess.”
That is what was said. That’s what I addressed.
That’s not “pointing at sexual dimorphism”. You asserting that the post is saying that is a straw man argument from you.
I care about truth and accountability. I am happy to be shown what I got wrong. I don’t care about being right, I care about truth and honesty. When I am wrong I am happy to acknowledge it. If you walk me through your reasoning, how you came to the conclusion that my post is a straw man argument, I am happy to listen. I make mistakes and am often wrong. Reputation matters to me. I hold myself accountable for what I say. If you explain how my post was a straw man argument I will listen and consider your reasoning. I’m also very open to hearing what informed you to conclude that it was built with “pure projection”?
I don’t think I do much projecting but I could be wrong.

[Ba****]

Yesterday at 09:14 PM, woburn169344 said:

“TBH it’s annoying that men are so selfish that they think of physical strength as something only they can possess.”
That is what was said. That’s what I addressed.
That’s not “pointing at sexual dimorphism”. You asserting that the post is saying that is a straw man argument from you.
I care about truth and accountability. I am happy to be shown what I got wrong. I don’t care about being right, I care about truth and honesty. When I am wrong I am happy to acknowledge it. If you walk me through your reasoning, how you came to the conclusion that my post is a straw man argument, I am happy to listen. I make mistakes and am often wrong. Reputation matters to me. I hold myself accountable for what I say. If you explain how my post was a straw man argument I will listen and consider your reasoning. I’m also very open to hearing what informed you to conclude that it was built with “pure projection”?
I don’t think I do much projecting but I could be wrong.

Lol we both reacted to the same comment, around the same time, using the same key points and sharing very similar sentiments to the point that i’d have to correct myself to call you wrong, i just take forever to actually write
It makes more sense in the proper context
Ps the extra pretentious way to interpret this whole thread would be “how relevant is sexual dimorphism to the sociocultural concept of masculinity” so my comment was meant more for the people saying “thing ain’t real”
For the record “men are annoyingly selfish for thinking that only men can be physically strong” is the straw man, I can’t see anything wrong with your previous comment and i honestly don’t what the way of thinking that caused your reaction is called but i’m sure it’s not “projection” but it might be related

[wo****]

3 hours ago, Barthold said:

Lol we both reacted to the same comment, around the same time, using the same key points and sharing very similar sentiments to the point that i’d have to correct myself to call you wrong, i just take forever to actually write
It makes more sense in the proper context
Ps the extra pretentious way to interpret this whole thread would be “how relevant is sexual dimorphism to the sociocultural concept of masculinity” so my comment was meant more for the people saying “thing ain’t real”
For the record “men are annoyingly selfish for thinking that only men can be physically strong” is the straw man, I can’t see anything wrong with your previous comment and i honestly don’t what the way of thinking that caused your reaction is called but i’m sure it’s not “projection” but it might be related

I respect the fact that you replied back.
- I am harsher with men, and for much less. No one takes up for the man when I do it, like ever. But people do add additional comments also calling him out
I think we wouldn’t be having this discussion if my response was to a man.
No questioning my thinking or framing my post as “a reaction”. No trying to identify problematic psychological factors like projection or something else.
We are all adults. I don’t believe women need protection from posts that disagree with their posts. Women are bright and strong and capable.

[Ba****]

18 hours ago, woburn169344 said:

I respect the fact that you replied back.
- I am harsher with men, and for much less. No one takes up for the man when I do it, like ever. But people do add additional comments also calling him out
I think we wouldn’t be having this discussion if my response was to a man.
No questioning my thinking or framing my post as “a reaction”. No trying to identify problematic psychological factors like projection or something else.
We are all adults. I don’t believe women need protection from posts that disagree with their posts. Women are bright and strong and capable.

Dude we are having this conversation because i’m the man you responded to and while i share a similar kind of chauvinism, i generally tend to engage less with men if I don’t think i could learn something or reduce the likelihood of being misunderstood myself(this conversation falls into the later category), because i just care less about the opinion of men I neither know personally nor intend to

[Pl****]

I believe it's the most generic form. Definitely not the most attractive form though. It may work when you're young, but without depth, you'll end up angry and alone in your later years

[wo****]

6 hours ago, Barthold said:

Dude we are having this conversation because i’m the man you responded to and while i share a similar kind of chauvinism, i generally tend to engage less with men if I don’t think i could learn something or reduce the likelihood of being misunderstood myself(this conversation falls into the later category), because i just care less about the opinion of men I neither know personally nor intend to

Can you help me understand which post were you talking about when you said this:

Wait… how is it “selfish” to point at sexual dimorphism and say “look, a thing”??
And nobody serious is saying that only men can be physically strong, it’s a generalization on the level of “most humans are female”
I mean no offense but that looks like a straw man built with pure projection

[Ba****]

8 hours ago, woburn169344 said:

Can you help me understand which post were you talking about when you said this:

Wait… how is it “selfish” to point at sexual dimorphism and say “look, a thing”??
And nobody serious is saying that only men can be physically strong, it’s a generalization on the level of “most humans are female”
I mean no offense but that looks like a straw man built with pure projection

The one by PebblesCailloux but the one by lifeisgood69 was part of the reason I didn’t use the “Quote”-function and just threw it out there as a general statement, at least i learned not to do that anymore^^

[wo****]

5 hours ago, Barthold said:

The one by PebblesCailloux but the one by lifeisgood69 was part of the reason I didn’t use the “Quote”-function and just threw it out there as a general statement, at least i learned not to do that anymore^^

Thanks for explaining that. I had thought that your post was responding to me. I thought you were objecting to my post and arguing in defense of what Pebbles said. Your post being directly after mine and not quoting anyone I read it as “what are you talking about buddy, all that she did was point at sex dimorphism, how is that selfish?”.
It was a mistake on my part. I reacted defensively and stuck with that belief in a back and forth with you. I misunderstood and I was wrong in reacting the way I did. I should have asked for clarification from the start. I was wrong and I apologize.

[Pe****]

This conversation has been interesting! Fwiw, you're both right, I shouldn't have impugned men with such an ignorant statement. I know better.