Haha, alrighty. Well, I'm sleepy, but let's see how this goes...
I really don't define myself as "feminine" or "masculine." Not really. I know I have quite a bit of both, really, but due to the way society views the boundaries between men and women, I'm often seen as more feminine than anything else. It's a little funny, women are starting to be accepted when they display masculine traits or characteristics in dress...they can wear pants, wear their hair short, and women are making more of a presence in the world of competitive sports. Women hold jobs and can even be the primary breadwinner for a family, and none of this is looked at as odd. But a man who enjoys theater, who cleans and cooks, who is more in touch with his emotions and tends to be a little extra-sensitive, who would rather spend his life raising his children than working...there's still something seen in him that's not quite right, and to express such classically feminine traits is to be looked down on by society in general.
So with that in mind, I find that while I do enjoy a good romance novel, or sing along to Rent, or squee over fangirlish things in Anime, and don't like football, I also don't like to cook or clean (though I will if pressed), I like porn and going to strip clubs, and feel very awkward around babies. I see myself as a man, but as I like to say to others, I'm the "gayest straight man in the world."
As another amusing thought...I always think it's odd that dresses are seen as "feminine," and that any man wearing a dress would be seem as a little off, when the kilt is perfectly acceptable in scotland.
So I guess it's an issue of this: the traits that define us, gender wise, are a local thing, and what is seen as masculine to us may be feminine to another society, or vice versa. So yeah...I identify as a man, but I have the sinking suspicion that I'll in part take up the role of the "woman" in any relationship I enter just as they take the role of the "man."
anyways, I'm sleepy, so hopefully that made sense.
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I really don't define myself as "feminine" or "masculine." Not really. I know I have quite a bit of both, really, but due to the way society views the boundaries between men and women, I'm often seen as more feminine than anything else. It's a little funny, women are starting to be accepted when they display masculine traits or characteristics in dress...they can wear pants, wear their hair short, and women are making more of a presence in the world of competitive sports. Women hold jobs and can even be the primary breadwinner for a family, and none of this is looked at as odd. But a man who enjoys theater, who cleans and cooks, who is more in touch with his emotions and tends to be a little extra-sensitive, who would rather spend his life raising his children than working...there's still something seen in him that's not quite right, and to express such classically feminine traits is to be looked down on by society in general.
So with that in mind, I find that while I do enjoy a good romance novel, or sing along to Rent, or squee over fangirlish things in Anime, and don't like football, I also don't like to cook or clean (though I will if pressed), I like porn and going to strip clubs, and feel very awkward around babies. I see myself as a man, but as I like to say to others, I'm the "gayest straight man in the world."
As another amusing thought...I always think it's odd that dresses are seen as "feminine," and that any man wearing a dress would be seem as a little off, when the kilt is perfectly acceptable in scotland.
So I guess it's an issue of this: the traits that define us, gender wise, are a local thing, and what is seen as masculine to us may be feminine to another society, or vice versa. So yeah...I identify as a man, but I have the sinking suspicion that I'll in part take up the role of the "woman" in any relationship I enter just as they take the role of the "man."
anyways, I'm sleepy, so hopefully that made sense.