I am just curious, of hand off, because it seems the definition, varies from person to person.

Hopefully, I'm not steering a hornet's nest on this one.

I was by the way thinking of this, while listening to a song, by one of my favorite music artists, Joe Jackson.

Be attractive.
Don't be unattractive.

And according to the commercials...

http://i.imgur.com/wcJve.jpg

...be on a cake.

http://img.listal.com/image/68562/500full-john-wayne.jpg

Sometimes it is easier to say what is not a man than what is.

My mother once told me that if a man has to worry about his masculinity, then he has something to worry about. If he doesn't worry about it, there is nothing for him to worry about. This is one of the few times where my mother is SOOOOOO right. My first husband used to always say, "I'm the man. I'm the man." I finally asked him, "Why do you keep telling me that you are the man? Are you afraid that I'm going to forget?" He stopped saying it after that. (Yeah, he worried about masculinity and yeah, he had to. He was NOT a REAL man. He was a little boy.)

I really hate the saying, "I hate to see a grown man cry." To me, crying shows that you are sensitive, have empathy, & not trying to cover anything up. When I was first dating Carlos, we were watching a movie and I was fighting back the tears because I didn't want him to think that I so stupid for crying at a stupid movie. I looked over at him and the tears were streaming down his cheeks. I knew right then and there that he was a REAL man. And he doesn't worry about his masculinity because he doesn't have anything to worry about.



Cat

http://www.thehotjoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/stuartsmalley.jpg

My first husband used to always say, "I'm the man. I'm the man."


With the caveat that Bob and Tom would be funnier without the dubbed laughter...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7Y0I91rubg

Any guy who can't sing it and genuinely laugh at his own shortcomings, has hereby revoked his own man card.

Someone who isn't afraid to be himself.

I'm gonna Google search "real man" and post the first image that comes up:



Oooh!  Better turn those filters on!
(You didn't see any filters?  Neither did I!)

http://www.esquire.com/cm/esquire/images/best-dressed-intro-0908-lg.jpg
Actually, this is the first one.  Not so bad.  The second one is captioned "A Real Man -- Yeah I'd Hit That!"
Zee for yourzevezes!
:D