What is sex? What is gender? Are they the same thing?
What is masculinity? Why is it toxic?
This website will attempt to answer all these questions, as well as go into detail about the many ways that certain expectations about men can actually harm men.
According to Merriam-Webster,
SEX = "reproductive organs and structures" that are typically used to distinguish animals as male or female
GENDER = "the behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with one's sex"
While sex is intrinsic, gender (and the way one expresses gender) is often shaped by cultural factors and internal feelings.
In recent years, more and more people have started to identify as transgender, meaning the gender they identify with does not align with their birth sex, or otherwise shifted from conforming to the traditional male and female gender identities.However, this website will focus on cisgender men (people who were born with male reproductive parts and who identify as male) and their masculinity.
Additionally, social factors and expectations vary tremendously across different races, socioeconomic statuses, and cultures, but this website will primarily focus on white men in the United States of America.
Traditionally,
- masculinity = “the qualities and traits associated with being a man”
- femininity = “the qualities and traits associated with being a woman”
but definitions of masculinity and femininity can vary between cultures.
Commonly Held, Yet Incorrect, Beliefs:
- Masculinity and femininity are complete antonyms. If you’re masculine, you can’t be feminine, and vice versa.
- This incorrect view led to strict beliefs about what boys and girls are allowed to do or expected to do, which resulted in gender stereotypes, such as “boys don’t cry” and the expectation that only girls are good at housekeeping.
- Masculinity and femininity can not change.
- Contrary to popular belief, the traits and behaviors associated with men and women have changed over time. For example, women did not used to be able to play sports, own land, hold political office, etc., but nowadays, women are often lawyers, doctors, athletes, and more.