Are masculinity and femininity fake?

Question

I mean "fake" as in "unnatural." Is being feminine or masculine like being involved in a fad? Like saying "cowabunga dude" in the eighties or "wazzup dawg," now? For instance, in a parallel universe, couldn't it be just as practical for the men to wear the skirts and the women to spit and scratch themselves? How much is convention at play with these sort of "gender specific" behaviors?

I'm somewhat satisfied with the answers so far but it seems most of you are sidestepping discussions about feminine women. Aren't feminine women also trying to hide insecurities?

Or is female femininity just too glorious to us to be criticized?

Answer 1

I wouldn't say it is unnatural... It has a lot to do with society. We are told from young ages what is expected of is, and these are the roles that we choose to live when we get older (I use the term choose loosely... We don't really choose it, it is a path set before us).

However, I do think there is a natural inclination to act a certain way, but I think much of the roles are exaggerated as a result of our social surroundings. Personally, I am not a very masculine guy... I don't try to be and I don't try not to be. But many traits associated with "masculinaty" (ego, aggression, etc.) is a result of testosterone (this is why men on anabolic sterroids become so violent...). Estrogen has a similiar effect on women.

So my opinion is it is mostly social, but also something we can't completely help/genetic.

Answer 2

I bring, perhaps, a different viewpoint to this conversation. I am a genetic male. But I knew that I was a little girl when I was five years old. For the next while, I went here, there. I'm a disabled war veteran, a helicopter doorgunner, Vietnam, 1968. After seven months of female hormones, I woke up one morning to find that my brain was finally working properly. My friends perceive me to be a very feminine woman. Am I confusing you? I hope so. E me if you have any questions,

Answer 3

i would say that it isn't so much of a fad then just an act because our mothers and father were our role model when we were young and we wish to be like then like most people word are mama and dada but as time goes on some people just don't care do be masculine and feminine at the same time because every one is different but some people like to hide or extenuate something about them for example a man who is very masculine could be hiding his insecurities or a man who is very feminine could be gay and very proud of it i say just be your self don't hide anything and don't show off people will tend to like other people who are them self's and not fake

and a feminine woman well we say its natural like go back in the fifties pretty much every woman was a stay at home mom and theses woman are our mothers and grandmothers so there generation isn't to far from ours so we as human kind just ignore a feminine woman because its normal and it is expected from woman i don't agree with it but that's we as in this society think

Answer 4

In my mind its a production of society. It isn't fake per say, but it is not natural. In other words the way men dress and the way women dress is not a creation of the "maker."

Society creates its norms, and the "Masculinity" and "Femininity" that experienced in this world, tend to vary in each culture/society.

[Edit: Of course there are predispositions of men and women and the way the interpret situations (aka environmental responses, aggression etc...) but culturally what makes a man "Masculine" and a woman "feminine" varies dependent on a number of factors of the society.]

To your comment about femininity in females, this relates to the predispositions I spoke of earlier. I'm not sure exactly what you're trying to say if this does not answer your question. One can act more so than another in regards to being feminine in their culture and that could be for a number of reasons, whether it be self image problems or a need for acceptance etc... be more specific please?

Answer 5

Masculine and feminine are not always at the extreme.
Wearing skirts does not make one feminine. Spitting and scratching are not masculine, that's just rudeness.
Masculinity isn't necessarily "toughness", femininity isn't necessarily "gentle". In astrology, a "masculine" sign means outward, "feminine" means inward. When someone is being outspoken, that is a masculine trait. If someone is quiet and strong though inner resources, that is feminine.

Answer 6

Yes, I always thought that men were doing a big "masculine" act to cover up the fact that they were insecure little babies. Anything in it's extreme has to be "fake" as you put it... Normal people are near the center of things. Balance.

Answer 7

I think society does enforce certain traits that are already present in men and women biologically like hormone levels, this could be a setback however because we are all individuals and we all want different things out of life.
But to me....you are all a bunch of apes.

Answer 8

Nope, masculinity and femininity are real. They are extensions of men and women's natures. Despite what certain people will tell you, men and women are very different. It's so funny that loonies will say "Oh, the only differences between men and women are the obvious physical ones!" Uhm, no, we're as different as night and day, and that's the way it should be.

Answer 9

Well only if the person is "acting".. it is fake.. Like if a guy guy pretends to be more flamboyant than he really is.

I'm in between, not too masculin and not too feminin.

Answer 10

I think a lot of the roles of gender are from conditioning at an early age.