Poll: The Manliness Conundrum

[Supernaut565]

I think that every man has his own code to follow for manliness both James Bond and John McClane are manly but they are very different in how they are manly James Bond drinks martinis he's suave and wears fine suits. John McClane wears muscle shirts and jeans drinks beer and eats hamburgers. I think there are many paths but only one end result, which is being manly as all shit.

 

[Captain-Giggles]

I don't think you can predetermine manliness, when something manly happens, you just know it's manly. Could be drinking loads or sexing many a wimmins to fit the stereotype, but it also could be a sweet frisbee catch or a 10 kill Spy streak in TF2. Everyone has a different idea of manly, and it should never really be taken seriously.
Here's what my captcha thinks of this: Premodern verving.

 

[JMeganSnow]

[HEADING=1]Women, for the purpose of this thread, please refrain from voting.
Your opinions are welcome, but I need the men's opinion.[/HEADING]

Booooo, no fair. Manly men don't exclude the ladies. Also they don't need opinions regarding manliness.

 

[chowderface]

Taking this whole "Man Law" thing seriously is pretty unmanly. "Man Law", without getting into too much detail, is basically a list of shit that is and isn't acceptably butch (for example: lumberjacking is. Kitties aren't) for a "man's man" to be into. However, abiding strictly by Man Law demonstrates that you're afraid people will make fun of you if you aren't manly enough, which Man Law dictates is VERY unmanly. This gets into what could be called the Man Law paradox: Man Law, by it's own credo, is unmanly.

So the little guy was right. Being manly isn't stomping into a tough-guy bar and ordering trashbin vodka in a dirty glass. It's perambulating amiably into that same bar and ordering milk, with no concern for who knows you just ordered a glass of milk in the toughest bar this side of the Rocky Mountains.

 

[Dr Snakeman]

A real man is manly not because he follows the set rules or actions that we define manliness with, but because he does these things purely on the basis that he believes such actions are the right thing to do.

Example: A man should not protect women and children around him because society says he should, but because it's what he thinks is his duty. That is manly.

Aha, someone gets it. I was getting a little tired of the same old "manliness is an outdated concept blah blah gender roles blah blah blah I'm a more highly evolved life form" crap that this thread is full of.

What is a man? Someone who stands up for what he thinks is right. Someone who does what he wants, and just doesn't give a flying shit what anyone around him thinks he should. "Manliness" is not defined by some kind of "bro code", or how many women you bed, or how many beers you can drink.

Manliness is more than that. It is a way of life. It is the act of continually striving to be the best son, brother, boyfriend, husband, friend, human being you can be.

In short, Theodore Roosevelt was manly. Ernest Hemingway was manly. All the crap Spike TV peddles? Not so much.

This website has a whole lot of information about the philosophy of being a man, as well as practical stuff, like cooking, exercise, hiking, whatever. It's pretty awesome, and I recommend it to anyone who wants to be manlier.

http://artofmanliness.com/

 

[rayen020]

i'm not manly, but honestly i don't care. I don't have to live up to another's standards. I do what i want when i want.

 

[zedel]

So...I'm neither man nor woman and I voted. That's ok, right?

 

[i7omahawki]

Manliness is a quality, being an actual man is a biological trait, and any notion of a "Man's law" is for simpletons who need rules to be what they are, or express the qualities they feel they have.

I'd say masculinity is the defining quality of manliness, and that the defining characteristic of masculinity is the tendency to destroy. Not an anti-male statement, nor even a bad thing itself, but associating this tendency towards destruction as needing a set of rules or guidelines is nonsensical.

When two, big burly men, with moustaches no less, see one another -- they don't need to check a rulebook to see if the other is manly, they observe the others' manliness by the way they hold themselves.

I see a "Man's Law" as a rather pathetic attempt to retain some sense of masculinity in those who lack it. I would never kid myself to being amongst the most archetypical 'manly men', but I'd say I'm pretty manly in that I can be confident in myself and don't need others to establish my own values.

 

[Cole Sauer]

The ultimate man is chuck norris + Reb Brown + sean connery + Inigo Montoya so on the manlyness graph thats at the top and Macho Man randy savage is somewhere in the middle, and at the bottom would be a Rotweiler dog

 

[Outright Villainy]

I'm a man because I have copious amounts of facial hair, drink lots of beer and play guitar solos.

I'm also constantly on fire, since that's manly. Everything is more manly on fire.

In fact, I should go douse my guitar in beer, then set it on fire. Don't tell me that won't work. Real men make it work.

Also, these guys have the right idea of manly.

All they have to do now is set everything on fire.

 

[Snake Plissken]

Are you anything at all like

Spoiler: this guy?

No? Work on that. You aren't manly enough.

 

[ApeShapeDeity]

Man Law, described here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_Laws

Has a lot to do with the whole fratire thing promoted by Maddox and Dick Masterson types.

Yeah, if you want to know man law the best source is beer ads...

Spoiler: Hahn Super Dry ads

There are, of course many other examples.

Personally, you know I'm a man's man cos I can build shit, break shit and I drink beer. RAAAR! *Flexes muscles in his hairy chest*

 

[eels05]

Well I guess if you have a 'Little Pony' as an Avatar that settle which side of the fence you've set up your tent.
Man Law sounds kind of gay.So I'm going to go with no law.

On reflection though,this whole man-law thing is probably a reaction against the pussification of men over the past 10-20 yrs.The SNAG,sensitive new age guy.The Metosexual.

 

[nYuknYuknYuk]

A "manly" man is a gentleman. Very honorable, hardworking, kind, and humble.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

Manly is a subjective descriptor, but by using today's use of the word, no, I'm not very manly. But if we use my version of the word, which a classy bastard, then I'm as manly as fuck.

 

[Twilight.falls]

I honestly don't care how "manly" other people see me.

I have testicles, I'm a man.

 

[Belated]

I voted "Other". "Restricting myself." is too vague. And "Man law" is just dumb. Any set of rules exclusively followed by men will inevitably have some stipulation in it that totally sucks. Like that rule in the "Bro Code" that says you can't sleep with the girl your friend used to date? Screw that. I'll sleep with any girl so long as she's cute, doesn't have an STD, lets me use a condom, and has never accused an innocent man of rape before and never will.

The values that define "manliness" are the kind of values that everybody should ideally have, man or woman. Not being a whiny wuss. Facing your fears. Standing up for yourself. Being honest. Taking responsibility for your actions. Honor. Doing what you want with your life. Because it's "manly", this implies that those who don't do these things are womanly, because that is the opposite. And that's sexist. In these ways, even women should ideally be "manly". But "Women should be manly." is a really weird thing to say. So I say, let's remove these traits from the spectrum of "manly", and just refer to them as "good" traits.

So when we remove these values from the spectrum of manliness, we're left with only one kind of thing that defines manliness: Common masculine behavior. Either because society has taught us to behave that way, or because nature has ingrained it in us to behave that way. It's impossible to list everything considered manly, so I'll just go with some examples.

So first there's common masculine behavior that is equally as awesome when women behave the same way: Fishing. Hunting. Playing video games (now becoming an increasingly gender-neutral thing, but shooters are still dominated by men). Not liking jewelry. Being easy. Playing sports. Chugging contests. Working out. Not wearing a bra under a shirt.

Then there's masculine behavior that isn't awesome when women do it: Farting. Burping. Wearing boxers. Not shaving legs. Picking on the nerds. Eating contests. Building ripped muscles. Never wearing short skirts. Preferring dogs over cats. Being unemotional.

Of course, these two categories are just my personal opinion. And most of the things in the second one aren't cool when anybody does it. Man or woman. But the things within both categories are all examples of masculine behavior. And I think "manly" should be defined exclusively by masculine behavior, because using anything else to define it is either sexist or silly. Based on this, I do consider myself generally "manly". I do most of the things in the former category, and about half of the things in the latter. But I honestly couldn't care less. As long as "manliness" doesn't encompass decent values, I see no reason to place importance in being manly. I do have behavior traits that are totally unmanly. Like preferring cats. Or crying over things. Or watching shows aimed at a female viewerbase. (Friendship totally is Magic.) But I like doing those things, so screw it. I treat "manly" as an adjective, rather than something to strive for. It's not. It's just a word I'd use to describe a person who partakes in a lot of behavior that is typically associated with men.

 

[spartan231490]

A description of what this "Man's law" is might help.

Though I already pretty much have an answer: Being "Manly" is a stereotype perpetuated by other men, and I see no need to follow it in any context.

I'd answer that if I could, sadly I have no idea what it is they were talking about though.

I'm pretty sure it refers to something from spike tv. Never watched it much, all the good shows on that station are reruns, but the commercials are funny as hell. Try youtube.

Also, manliness is a non-quantitative, subjective descriptor. Kinda like badass, it's not from following any rules, or from rejecting them entirely, it comes from being manly. I don't really care, I try to be responsible, not manly.

 

[imperialwar]

i think i might be entering this debate as the first to actually say i'm a manly man. I kind of blurred out on the 4th and 5th page as a lot of people were just rehashing the same stuff.

So the things i consider that make me a manly man.

1. Im not afraid to do the right thing and stop people from doing the wrong thing ( breaking the law namely or hurting other people, or themselves for that matter ).
2. If an old lady / man in the shops looks like she / he wants something of the top shelf i approach her / him and ask her / him if she / he would like the item taken down for her / him. As in actively go out of my way to ASK.
3. I know CPR / GFA and can help save someone's life.
4. I can offer advice to any question asked, i know a little about pretty much everything and there isnt much that i cant answer by drawing on the experiences of my life. At the moment i am councilling both my own mother and my wifes mum and dad to help them with their issues, as an example.
5. I can hunt, kill, prep and cook my own food. I cook better then most restaurants and cook for my wife everyday. Not because i dont wnat her to cook, but because i want to provide for her.
6. I can talk to my wife about anything, and arent afraid to cry if something is exceedingly sad or stressful. We have been together 14 years without any massive argument leading to one of us leaving the house for any length of time.

I guess when i look at these things, being a man to me is entering a room and making a difference to peoples lives. Not dominating them by any means but helping ease their burdens, whatever they may be. Live a life worthy of a legacy, be honourable unto death.

 

[iDoom46]

I really don't fully understand the concept of "manliness". A "man's man" can be anything from a suave lady-killer, to a burly lumberjack.

And in this day-in-age, manliness has taken on an even newer, more absurd form. Anybody remember Robot Unicorn Attack? Remember what people said? "What's wrong, you're not MAN enough to be comfortable playing a game with rainbow unicorns and faeries?"
Or Scrubs: "What's wrong? You can't handle pure unadulterated MAN LOVE? Its not gay, we're just man enough to share our feelings!"

So, in actuality, manliness has taken on a newer, more complex meaning that goes beyond the macho-man stereotype of yesteryear. Nowadays people who still cling to upholding the macho definition are seen as either being ironic or just hiding their insecurities. Unless, of course, you go completely over the top a-la Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.

So, yeah, while I don't play, or even like FOOTBALL, or tear phonebooks in half with my bare hands, I suppose I consider myself a semi-manly man.
I occasionally shave with a pocket knive in lieu of a razor, I can kill a man with my bare hands if need be (black belt), I can survive on my own, I like death metal, and I'm comfortable enough with my sexuality to say I like show-tunes, the occasional cute/girly thing, and do other "gay" things, sometimes with my gay friends, without fear of ridicule.
That sounds pretty fucking manly to me.