Are western men becoming less masculine? and if so, does this matter?

[-:Undertaker:-]

Are western men becoming less masculine? and if so, does this matter?


http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1146500/thumbs/r-TOM-DALEY-large570.jpg?6

In passing decades since the 1960s, the concept of men becoming less masculine and more 'continental' has become a common thought. With the rise of the internet - we've seen a huge explosion in this idea, with pictures of many men (celebrities too - see Tom Daley above) posing appearing on Facebook, Twitter and so on and so forth. In recent years we've also seen an explosion in mens cosmestic products, men grooming themselves and even going as far as the old taboo of shaving their legs. Another thing to touch upon is the increasing amount of touching between men as a form of banter and bonding as homosexuality has become less of a taboo. But does any of this matter?

Many, mainly women, would say that this does matter and makes men much less attractive compared with more rough and less girly men and would also argue that this is a bad thing for society at large as it results in the emasculation of the male in society which often served as a role model for your grandparents generation as part of the traditional family whereby the male looked after his pride and performed the job of protecting his family (financially and in others ways too).

So what would you say? is this a negative change? is this change happening at all or has it always been around just it's more prominent with the advent of the internet? is the role model of the traditional male something that is needed in a family?


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The debate is open to you.

[FlyingJesus]

If not being rough/tough/buff makes one intrinsically less attractive to women then those women are sexists holding on to totally unnecessary gender roles which have throughout the entirety of history placed men in danger for the betterment of females. The entire basis behind "manly" men is that they are willing to undergo danger and physical distress so that females need not do so, which originally was needed so that birthgivers could survive the harsh climes of pre-cultural Earth and preserve humanity but has been totally above and beyond necessity for the past couple of thousand years in reality - these animalistic instincts survive because our basic nature is a primate tribal one, yet we as a species have moved on to metropolitan life without giving evolution (mental or physical) a chance to catch up

[Daltron]

A landmark Supreme Court ruling in the US found that: "three decades of research concur that kids of gay parents are doing just fine." http://www.bu.edu/today/2013/gay-parents-as-good-as-straight-ones/

I would safely say that the need for a traditional male figure (hetrosexual) in every family is not critical for the proper upbringing of a child, and the recent, more 'continental' male figure has not come along naturally by any means either though. I don't think people have always been like that and suddenly now changed, but I think through the media and the Internet in particular these sort of cultures and identities have been created for younger generations though pop culture and social media and there is nothing wrong with this, because dare say 50-100 years ago males were being brought up with similar influences intertwined and influenced by pop culture and media of their generation.

Whilst people might argue that being a strong manly male is natural, I'd say it's just how they have been influenced to be by their parents and surroundings within the older generations, and now we are at a point where there is different influences telling us how to act as teenagers. I admit that I do let a lot of other entities influence the way I act or dress or come across to other people and I am perfectly fine with this.

Certainly not a negative change, and has always been happening but now we recognise it a lot more because what's influencing us is more 'in our faces' than ever. :)

[Aiden]

If it really bothers someone about someone else's appearance then I and a lot of my community wouldn't care about their opinions. :)

People can do be what they want ;)

[lawrawrrr]

ok i can't even

Masculinity is a social construct which is subjective to each individual, I would argue.

If we're going on a typical idea of masculinity as tough, muscular, don't show feelings etc. then why on earth does it matter if some men are less 'masculine'? It's not a bad thing if they are, it's not a bad thing if they're not, it's their choice.

The only reason they might be becoming less 'masculine' is because there is a lesser social expectation: men of the generations above were all drafted into war, and the consequences of such, which was a completely different lifestyle. There were expectations then, and society has become more lenient since then. For women as well as men, look at fashion and lifestyle trends over the last 100 years, it's changed for both sexes and become more acceptable.

[Cerys]

I'm gonna say that it doesn't really matter, unless they all turn gay cos then we're kinda in trouble.

But seriously, does it matter if they don't want to live up to the big muscle man thing? It's their choice!

[Zelda]

Personally I don't think it matters at all, and I know that as there have been more men who are very skinny/shave etc and are less masculine and more interested in fashion and stuff there has definitely been a rise in the girls much preferring them too as well. If it's who someone is then they should be it really, being masculine and strong doesn't really suit everyone at all, and the personality should always come out on top, and those people generally do seem to be the nicer people really and less self obsessed

[JACKTARD]

This is just sexism now.


If this thread was based on women it'd be seen as so much more controversial. Imagine me or someone powerful turning around and saying 'women need to go back to how they were 50 years ago and be all feminine'. **** would hit the fan.

But no it doesn't matter. People don't need to conform to stereotypes.