What makes a man a Man?

[Jonathan Wingo]

Spoiler

If - Rudyard Kipling

IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son.

This pretty much sums it up.

 

[Galad]

You are a man when you no longer feel the need to prove it. That or you have a beard, all beards grant at least + 1 manliness.

Given a few weeks of resisting the need to shave, I can grow a beard, but I don't feel like a man yet. I'd go with the philosophical kind of answer on this and say it's some personal, important and difficult choice you are to make at some point. And that it's different for (almost) everyone

 

[Jonathan Wingo]

It's age. That's it.
I don't get why people get all pretentious about "being a man". You're a man once you stop developing physically, if you want to be technical. But really, who cares? Why does one have to "be a man", why can't someone just live life the way they want?

You want to be a man, or do you want to be a pussy and have all the men laugh at you and beat the shit out of you on a regular basis? Take your pick.

Why can't I just be me? It's worked out for me so far.

Well who are you?

 

[reg42]

It's age. That's it.
I don't get why people get all pretentious about "being a man". You're a man once you stop developing physically, if you want to be technical. But really, who cares? Why does one have to "be a man", why can't someone just live life the way they want?

You want to be a man, or do you want to be a pussy and have all the men laugh at you and beat the shit out of you on a regular basis? Take your pick.

Why can't I just be me? It's worked out for me so far.

Well who are you?

Why should I have to define who I am?

 

[Tadd]

I think the movie 'Orgazmo' had an intro song that helped shed some light as to what it is that makes a man...

 

[Jonathan Wingo]

It's age. That's it.
I don't get why people get all pretentious about "being a man". You're a man once you stop developing physically, if you want to be technical. But really, who cares? Why does one have to "be a man", why can't someone just live life the way they want?

You want to be a man, or do you want to be a pussy and have all the men laugh at you and beat the shit out of you on a regular basis? Take your pick.

Why can't I just be me? It's worked out for me so far.

Well who are you?

Why should I have to define who I am?

Well, if I don't know who you are, how can I tell you if it's ok to just be you.

(And by the way, you are who you want to be. You choose who you are, no one chooses but you. So when you're deciding who you are, maybe decide to be a man. )

 

[reg42]

It's age. That's it.
I don't get why people get all pretentious about "being a man". You're a man once you stop developing physically, if you want to be technical.

Physically someone can be a man, but mentally they're still a child.
Quite a few guys are like this.

I don't mean still liking cartoons or something.

Then they're still a man, just immature.

-snip-

Well, if I don't know who you are, how can I tell you if it's ok to just be you.

(And by the way, you are who you want to be. You choose who you are, no one chooses but you. So when you're deciding who you are, maybe decide to be a man. )

What I'm saying is that you shouldn't have to tell me it's ok to be me. I've never chosen who I am, I've just naturally developed as I am. If you choose who you are, then you aren't being true to yourself, and how can you possible mature if your entire personality is a facade?

 

[Jonathan Wingo]

It's age. That's it.
I don't get why people get all pretentious about "being a man". You're a man once you stop developing physically, if you want to be technical.

Physically someone can be a man, but mentally they're still a child.
Quite a few guys are like this.

I don't mean still liking cartoons or something.

Then they're still a man, just immature.

When we're talking about being a man, we're talking about having the mindset of a man, not being physically a man.

 

[ottenni]

You are a man when you no longer feel the need to prove it. That or you have a beard, all beards grant at least + 1 manliness.

Given a few weeks of resisting the need to shave, I can grow a beard, but I don't feel like a man yet. I'd go with the philosophical kind of answer on this and say it's some personal, important and difficult choice you are to make at some point. And that it's different for (almost) everyone

Shhhhh, don't say that. Then everyone will want to be a man! We have to make it sound difficult or else everyone will try to be a man, then we wont be special anymore.

*ahem*

The truth is you have to castrate a male lion with your teeth to be a man.

 

[rium125]

the real question is "are you a man, or a slave?" a man chooses, a slave obeys. high 5 to those who get the reference

 

[likalaruku]

Stick a man in front of a man-hating lesbian. The more she disapproves of him, the manlier he is. If they end up arguing, he's super macho, & if a knife fight breaks out, he's Popeye. You cannot disagree with this.

 

[Tdc2182]

When you suppress all your emotions and learn to stick up for yourself. You dont whine and complain, but when you do, you do it manly. Its basically doing stuff that makes others lives better. Making a difference by using your strength, so to spreak.

Edit: also when you grow out of the high school mentality that doing drugs and stuff that make you popular, whether you mean it or not. It id oing what it necessary

 

[Davrel]

A Y chromosome.

The quality of the resulting male/man is determined by their actions, and sometimes by their words.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

Go look up 'The Man Song', by Trey Parker/DVDA. Here, I'll do it for you:

Spoiler: The Man Song

See? Now you know.

In all seriousness, though, I'd say a man is a male with a distinguished sense of self, who is prepared to achieve his goals by a set plan, and who knows that it's alright to put the needs of someone else before your own, but that sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

 

[Jonathan Wingo]

Stick a man in front of a man-hating lesbian. The more she disapproves of him, the manlier he is. If they end up arguing, he's super macho, & if a knife fight breaks out, he's Popeye. You cannot disagree with this.

^^^^^

This. Definitely.

 

[reg42]

It's age. That's it.
I don't get why people get all pretentious about "being a man". You're a man once you stop developing physically, if you want to be technical.

Physically someone can be a man, but mentally they're still a child.
Quite a few guys are like this.

I don't mean still liking cartoons or something.

Then they're still a man, just immature.

When we're talking about being a man, we're talking about having the mindset of a man, not being physically a man.

What I'm saying is that I don't think you can define who a man is, because people are different. What might be manly where you are, may be the opposite where I am.

 

[Cowabungaa]

I think the movie 'Orgazmo' had an intro song that helped shed some light as to what it is that makes a man...

I believe Pariag87 ninjaed you with that: