Poll: The 'Real' Man Debate

[Shoggoth2588]

I don't really think it matters. Isn't it kind of a trope that man-whores in movies/ on TV spend a ton of time primping and preening themselves? Granted, most wouldn't also wear make-up...but I wouldn't fault you for that. You are who you are: it shouldn't matter what you wear.

 

[Souplex]

As the man to which all men aspire to be, I shall weigh in on this issue!
A real man should dress appropriately for whatever he seeks to do. Most of the time you can dress casually.
Under no circumstances should a man wear short pants, or boxers, unless he has given up on life. You have to have respect for yourself. Short-shorts are the only acceptable form of shorts, because they're so silly it's fun.
A man should never wear skinny jeans unless he wishes to be a filthy hipster, and nobody wants to be a filthy hipster.
As for shaving body hair, it's your body. If being smooth pleases you or a significant other; go for it. Hairy is objectively better, but you can still enjoy it less.

 

[Joccaren]

My answer is, there's no standard for what "real men" should look and dress like. Just do what you feel.

This. A real man does what the f*** they want to do. Its no more manly to shave than it is to grow a beard. Wearing makeup is getting close to a grey line IMO, but so long as you're not trying to look like a girl it pretty much works for being manly.

 

[CMDDarkblade]

A real man doesn't take appearance advice from women; in fact a real man never listens to any advice from others at all. A real man gets all of his facts, advice, opinions, and especially his innate sense of direction from his gut, the only infallible font of knowledge in the world. The gut is the only source of information and truth a man ever needs in his life.

 

[Hunter Hyena]

No man can comfortably wear skinny fitting jeans.

It's just not possible

Tell that to Iggy Pop ;D

 

[BoredAussieGamer]

All a real man needs to qualify IMO is to have the appropriate genitalia. That said, I don't think a "real man" should be able to comfortably wear tight fit jeans. Even I have to go a size up (legs too long and waist too big for me) to wear them comfortably.

 

[Hunter Hyena]

I think real men should groom themselves and keep a nice look when needed. Even if your a rocker you still need to look and smell nice to pick up chicks

EDIT:and seeing how your avatar is a furry emo character I can see why you're mother thinks you're a "girly" man

Eh, the icon was a gift by a friend, I was going for 70's glam rock with it XD

 

[Rems]

I would say there's a difference between caring about one's appearance and wearing eye-liner.

To most a man who cares about his appearance would groom himself, keep himself clean, wear clothing in good nick and the like.

Straightening your hair, shaving most of your body hair and wearing eye-liner are things typically done by women. You're going to cop flack from it, it is not 'manly'. Still if it makes you happy go ahead. Personally i think it's effeminate but to each his own.

 

[kortin]

Dress however the fuck you want, there's no such thing as a fucking 'real man'.

 

[Aaron Sylvester]

Wait does "all natural" mean basically mean guys walking around with giant beards? Because that would definitely be natural
I certainly care about my looks enough to shave my beard and keep my hair short, if only to cut down the time I have to waste making my hair look "nice".

Look how you want to look, wear what you want to wear - in the end it all comes down to what you DO, that has always what has counted when it comes to getting judged as a "real man" or whatever people call it these days (the term is irrelevant in today's society).

I personally don't care about the brand of jeans I'm wearing or what's trendy with shoes at the moment, I just wear whatever I can find and occasionally replace clothes if they're too getting too old.

Unless it's genuinely making you uncomfortable (or if you do a lot of swimming ) personally I find the whole body-shaving thing a waste of time. Putting on eyeliner is also rather...well, I won't call it "not manly" but it's definitely on the boundry (but some not-so-polite people I know would definitely say "what the fuck is wrong with boys these days?"). If you're going for the whole emo look, that's totally fine, just...don't be surprised if some people immediately judge your entire personality just by your looks. That's all I'm saying.

 

[Xdeser2]

Pro Tip:

Your a Real man when the term "Real Man" Dosent really matter to you. You live your life the way you want to. true, your never going to have ALL the answers, but you try and dont back down form most challenges. Owning yourself is important too, what people say isnt always important, only if your happy.

But then agian I might have been a blatent hypocrite there by lying down rules to something I said has no rules.

TL;DR

Be yourself, at all times, unapoligeticly

 

[Mikeyfell]

It's the difference between caring how you feel and caring how others feel about you.
(Uh oh, I said "feel")
You know if you have to put "Real" man in quotes do you really want to be associated with that?

If you want to look good for what ever reason, then look good.
If you want people to think you're a "real" man then do what ever "real" men do.

Also in one of your poll options you used the word "'worry' about your looks"
If you're worrying about it you probably shouldn't bother.

 

[Nickolai77]

I think anyone with a basic knowledge of history can appreciate that fashion styles (and hence how men should appear) changes over time. Hundreds of years ago men shaved their heads and wore wigs, and also wore tights and hose, and applied all sorts of make-up. More recently men used to have moustaches and before that big huge beards. Essentially all your doing OP is diverging from the fashion trends your parents grew up with and dealing with the traditional backlash against it.

With regards to "Manliness" and fashion, i don't think the OP is dressing in a very masculine fashion, but neither would i call it overtly feminine either. Wearing eyeliner is traditionally worn only be females, as is also straightening hair, but both can work on the male form.

What doesn't work on the male form is things like wearing lipstick or wearing skirts or dresses- there are some fashion items which are made to compliment the female form that simply don't work on guys because male and female bodies are different.

 

[PatrickXD]

Within reason, real men do what they wanna do and dress how they wanna dress. That's what I was taught, anyway. Just get comfortable in your life.

 

[axlryder]

The term "real man" is disgusting and sexist. If one were to talk about how "real woman" should groom themselves then they would be jumped on as a misogynistic pig. I'm not attacking the OP here, just the term. Personally, I don't really bother with grooming beyond hygiene. I do, however, occasionally shave all of my body/facial hair and get a haircut due to being a swimmer. I will often get odd looks from newer acquaintances, who I then proceed to tell I've gone metro-sexual for the fun of it.

 

[Hollyday]

'Real' men (and 'real' women) are the people who dress and act in the way they feel most comfortable, and reflects their character, regardless of what other people and society in general says they should do.

That's why I always dress like a pirate....

Courage is what we want here