Conventional Attributes of Masculinity
Phallic masculinity
- "Natural"--authentic, inherent, biological
- Essential, fixed--there are no degrees of masculinity;
one is either male or female
- Dominance, authority, power; being on top
- Hard, not soft
- Phallic; penetrating, not penetrated
- Thrusting, aggressiveness
- Explosive, uncontrollable ("boys will be boys")
- "Size matters"; the bigger, the more masculine
- Irresistible to women
- Being active
- Enjoyment of physical activity (sports, etc.)
- Enjoyment of the chase, etc.
- Go-getting
- Enjoyment of violence
- Sadistic, not masochistic
- Lust-driven; "brains in crotch"
- Lustful but not seeking emotional attachment; sex but
not love
- Desiring (i.e., as opposed to desired); lustful, but not
inviting lust
- Seducer, not seductive
- Polygamous
Warrior masculinity
- Competitiveness
- Need to test courage, power ("Are you a man or a
mouse?")
- Need to win; be better than others
- Need to be seen to win: glory, acclaim, reputation,
etc.: masculinity as a prize awarded by the opinions of
others, especially other men
- Maleness as continually in question, always in need of
being proved, tested, etc.
- Strong and silent
- Hard, cool, unemotional
- Egocentric: self-sustaining
- Unwilling to speak of emotions
- No crying
- Bragging; voicing of maleness as key feature of masculinity
- Courage, bravery, fortitude
- Self-control
- Control and discipline of body: not subject to desire
- Control and discipline of body: ongoing achievement and
maintenance of societally privileged appearance of masculinity
- Invincibility; no pain
- Meat; no quiche
Self-sufficient masculinity
- Independence
- Egocentricity
- Outsider anti-conformist rebelliousness
- Impatience with or defiance of limitations of convention,
values of law and order, female rules of etiquette, good
manners, taste, etc.; maleness as that which is restrained
or repressed by civilization and social concerns
- Not interested in neatness, cleanliness, order; no housecleaning
- Fear of entrapment, containment
- Non-romantic, non-needy ("Big boys don't cry.")
- Non-nurturing
Group masculinity
- Male bonding
- Male homosociality: most important relationships are with
other men
- Misogyny
- Homophobia; fear or repugnance at physical contact with
other men outside of the context of battle or play-battle
(sports); fear of the male gaze (homosociality as not
homosexuality)
- Need to conform to values of male group
- Need of ritual reinforcement of involvement with male
group--names, ceremonies, secret handshakes, etc.
- Desire of the male gaze--attracting admiration of other
men (e.g., body builders, models) for masculine appearance
- Policing of unmanliness, etc.; category maintenance
- Rigid, conservative, anti-anarchy or -transgression or
confusion of fixed boundaries and categories
- Closeting of divergence from group values, vulnerability,
softness, etc.
- Anti-intellectual (anti-geek, nerd, etc.)
- Masculinity as a form of dress: certain colours, styles,
forms of appearance, etc.; no frills, no pink, baseball
caps, hairy and/or muscular, not pudgy or skinny, etc. Body-building.
- Lack of interest in fashion or appearance; no makeup
- Peacockery
Structural/ cultural masculinity
- Patriarchal
- Hierarchical
- Binary oppositional: "us vs. them"
- Colonizing
- Keeper of secrets about rules being broken, etc.; seeing
but not saying
Psychoanalytical masculinity
- Oedipal concerns
- Repressed polymorphous perversity, anality, homosexuality,
etc.
- Fear of and/or integration of anima
- "He who bears the phallus"; phallus as signifier;
"name of the father"
- Fear of father, murder of father, etc.; masculinity as
tied up in relationships with fathers
- Gazer--not subject to the gaze