masculinity
nounUS /ˌmæskjəˈlɪnɪti/
Etymology From French masculinité, from Old French, equivalent to masculine + -ity. Earlier in same sense was masculineness.
1
Usually The degree or property of being masculine or manly; manliness.
- Over time, society's ideas of masculinity has greatly broadened.
- Of the six homosexual patients, three men finally overcame the underlying vaginaphobia, increased their heterosexual activities, and enhanced their masculinity.1971, American Journal of Psychotherapy, volume 25, page 657:
2 more examples
- Steven Cohan highlights the suggestive qualities of Red Rivers dominant narrative, the opposition between the radically different masculinities Clift and Wayne represent: "the highly charged context between the soft boy and the hard man in Red River dramatizes such a shift in the mainstream culture's demands upon masculinity".2013, Elisabetta Girelli, Montgomery Clift, Queer Star, page 33:
- “What this work shows is that masculinity is not just an ideology that men strive to achieve. It’s something we value as a culture,” said lead author Theresa Vescio, a professor of psychology and women’s, gender and sexuality studies at Pennsylvania State University.2021 January 9, Sandee LaMotte, “Valuing male dominance may predict support for Trump, study says”, in CNN:
- Antonyms
- feminility, feminineness, womanlikeness
- Derived terms
- antimasculinity, cismasculinity, fragile masculinity, hegemonic masculinity, hypermasculinity, hypomasculinity, pseudomasculinity, supermasculinity, toxic masculinity, transmasculinity, ultramasculinity
- Related terms
- male, masculine, masculinize, masculinization