Dichotimization of Males(Sorry gals :[ )
02-16-2012, 10:11 PM
Male Femininity throughout history has changed in its role and its 'meaning'.
Around the time of Jesus a man being 'womanly' - effeminate had nothing to do with sexuality, it had more to do with being rich. The richer a man was, the less physical work he did. As a sign of his class and stature he had soft hands, soft body. They wore makeup - a real sign of being free to do what ever you wanted.
Soft hands, rounded body, rich silks and fabrics all pointed at a man of leisure, he had slaves to do all of that physical labor. Thus a big burly muscular guy with calloused hands was seen as 'poor'. Exception being gladiators and 'military' men. They held a special place in Roman culture because Rome was all about expansion and dominating the world.
Middle Ages/Dark Ages when kings were kings, there was a minor push toward femininity once again as wealth was demonstrated by the lack of hardness that hard work bestows upon men.
The majority of straight boys your age are actually far more girly than in my generation, they are weaker, slimmer, even 'pretty' to a point - again this shows signs of coming from a family of means. They did not need to work on the farm, or in the field - they are not doing hard labor. Instead they are technocrats, manipulating electronics and having a 'soft' life with little to no physical demands.
The idealized brute male, is once again being seen as a product of lower class, a product of hard labor and is 'less than'. Since the 1970's there has been a huge push away from the 1950's typical idea of 'masculinity' - Suddenly real men do cry, Usher in the age of Metro-sexuality were more and more men are doing 'girly things' to take care of themselves.
We are in a period where the lines of what being a 'real man' is blurring again. And it is the older generation who is screaming 'Its because they are gay'. The younger generation is seeing it as just who they are.
Axe for men and all of these other body and hair care products are a sign of the popularity of males 'taking care' of themselves. Slender, swimmers build is seen as the 'new healthy'. The body building rage of the 80's and 90's was an outgrown of the fear of HIV/AIDS but as that fear is diminished, we once again move back to slender, defined body image.
Body hair is seen less 'manly' and more 'brute', follow the stud of the day thread, the majority of the males there have swimmer's bodies and are bodily clean shaven.
Femininity in males also conveys the general idea of youth. Being youthful is far more important in our modern society then a man's ability to work hard and labor.
Around the time of Jesus a man being 'womanly' - effeminate had nothing to do with sexuality, it had more to do with being rich. The richer a man was, the less physical work he did. As a sign of his class and stature he had soft hands, soft body. They wore makeup - a real sign of being free to do what ever you wanted.
Soft hands, rounded body, rich silks and fabrics all pointed at a man of leisure, he had slaves to do all of that physical labor. Thus a big burly muscular guy with calloused hands was seen as 'poor'. Exception being gladiators and 'military' men. They held a special place in Roman culture because Rome was all about expansion and dominating the world.
Middle Ages/Dark Ages when kings were kings, there was a minor push toward femininity once again as wealth was demonstrated by the lack of hardness that hard work bestows upon men.
The majority of straight boys your age are actually far more girly than in my generation, they are weaker, slimmer, even 'pretty' to a point - again this shows signs of coming from a family of means. They did not need to work on the farm, or in the field - they are not doing hard labor. Instead they are technocrats, manipulating electronics and having a 'soft' life with little to no physical demands.
The idealized brute male, is once again being seen as a product of lower class, a product of hard labor and is 'less than'. Since the 1970's there has been a huge push away from the 1950's typical idea of 'masculinity' - Suddenly real men do cry, Usher in the age of Metro-sexuality were more and more men are doing 'girly things' to take care of themselves.
We are in a period where the lines of what being a 'real man' is blurring again. And it is the older generation who is screaming 'Its because they are gay'. The younger generation is seeing it as just who they are.
Axe for men and all of these other body and hair care products are a sign of the popularity of males 'taking care' of themselves. Slender, swimmers build is seen as the 'new healthy'. The body building rage of the 80's and 90's was an outgrown of the fear of HIV/AIDS but as that fear is diminished, we once again move back to slender, defined body image.
Body hair is seen less 'manly' and more 'brute', follow the stud of the day thread, the majority of the males there have swimmer's bodies and are bodily clean shaven.
Femininity in males also conveys the general idea of youth. Being youthful is far more important in our modern society then a man's ability to work hard and labor.
![[-]](https://gayspeak.com/images/duende_v3_local/collapse.png)
