Masculinities

Masculinities

What are the variations in masculinity?  What kinds of men can we be? Where do eunuchs, castrati and heterofeminists fit?  A popular men’s magazine presents this list of available options:    

• Caveman

• Tribal

• Warrior

• Ruler

• Explorer

• Peacemaker

• Integral

The theory is that all men experience some or all of these stages of masculinity at various times in their life, but will generally be most comfortable with one particular stage.  -- Inside Man

This is the content that floods the masculinity space, and seems to me to be utter nonsense.  I don’t connect to any of these terms. Does anyone? When I was growing up, the choices seemed to be jock, burnout, nerd or punk.  They didn’t seem like genders then, more like social groups. But now I’m thinking maybe there were modes of cishet gender performance modeled and available in each of these groups.  

A 2017 American Counseling Association paper offers some intriguing possibilities for gay masculinities, including Bears, Cubs, Otters, Wolves, Twinks, Twunks and Pups, Jocks, Gym Bunnies, Gym Rats, and Bulls, Chubs and Chasers, Geeks/Gaymers, and Queens/Drag Queens. (J.L. Maki, 2017)  Many of these categories have detailed subtypes, such as:

Grizzly Bears (White, hairy, heavier men), Cubs (younger hairy men), Polar Bears (older men with greying or white hair), Big Teddy Bears (men who are hairy, yet heavier than Grizzly Bears), Otters (men who are hairy but thin), and other classifications encompassing ethnic variations such as Black Bears (hairy men of color) or Panda Bears (hairy Asian or Pacific Islander men). (Moskowitz et al., 2013)

These body type descriptions that include variations and detail to account for age, race, weight may be more relatable ways of understanding the nuances and shades of difference between and among masculinities.  Desire aside, I can easily spot myself above.