I sometimes am baffled by what American culture thinks “men” are like. The stereotype seems to revolve around interest in football games and other American sports, getting drunk a lot, and watching NASCAR.
None of which I consider particularly masculine in terms of living and behaving like a real man. Things like maturity, responsibility, and willingness to protect others all seem to be left out of the equation.
My problem with some of these “traits of masculinity” in this thread is that they really are general, and describe more general maturity than something a person with certain equipment does more than another without that equipment.