Floodingpants said:
Ask yourself, can real men wear diapers? Wearing diapers doesn't make you less of a man. A real man is what you are made of on the inside not what you wear on the outside.
I'd say the better question is, why can't real men wear diapers? Same question, different undertones.
Can real men wear diapers comes across slightly submissive, like you are asking permission, which is not very "macho". Why can't they wear diapers is a more argumentative/aggressive stance, like saying I'm doing this and you can't stop me, which is a more "manly" way to say it.
LittleAndAlone said:
A real man does whatever he wants. The worst another can do to you is threaten violence, and a real man will respond to that by making sure they never have to be concerned with that person ever again.
The macho man stuff that society wants you to believe is bullshit.
This.
I would fight people on the point though of what is a "real man" (sorry for the small rant here)...
There are 3 ways to look at it: Medical, Personal, and societal.
- Medically speaking, a real man is anyone born with a penis, regardless of behaviour, attitude, political/religious/societal persuasion, gender identity etc.
- Personally, Identity wise a real man is can be anyone who feels and acts like a male regardless of the genitals/body they were born with.
- Societally, This is where it get's convoluted and idiotic but thankfully Oh boy the times they are a changin'.
Not so long ago masculinity was working hard, providing for a family, sole breadwinner, strong, tough, emotionally in control, no tears, no "fluffy" feelings, powerful... So many buzz words to describe what is in essence a dominating personality.
But why does that have to be the case? Because for millennia people had to be strong and fierce, to discard anything that could be seen as a weakness because life was hard, you really had to work hard just to stay alive or achieve anything.
But now everything is easier, jobs are automated, you can have practically anything you want at the touch of a button, user friendliness, ease of use, automatic, work/hassle free options are available for pretty much everything, heck even just 100 years ago if you wanted to build a house you had to be strong to lift beams, saw, hammer nails, haul bricks etc. nowadays we have power tools and equipment that does most of that for you.
Times have moved on and our definitions that have previously worked are struggling to keep up, they need to evolve too.
Is a programmer who spends 12 hours a day in front of a screen not a real man because he's nerdy? even though he makes more money and can provide a better life for his family.
How about a guy who works in a nursery looking after babies and changing nappies all day? that doesn't seem like a manly job, except it's that guy who has the patience and strength of will to deal with 50 screaming and misbehaving kids all day and still manage to keep calm and teach them how to be better, how to fit in, how to be strong and how to grow to be great people.
Being a man isn't what you wear, it isn't what you eat, it isn't your job or you're hobbies. It isn't how people see you, and it isn't what about they tell you to be. Push aside what society defines as manly, forget what you think you know about what makes a man, ignore the fools who are stuck with the Neanderthal beliefs and...
Just.
Be.
You!
These days being a real man is the same as being a real woman, it's making choices and following through with them, taking responsibility and accepting what those choices may lead to, either adapting to the outcome or making changes to suit you. Importantly it's about being true to yourself no matter what others think, say or do to change that.
The key word here is
Real not man, so be the real you and everything else will fall into place.
