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.
But don’t all black people eat fried chicken and watermelon?
I guess I identify with this because I was raised outside the U.S. essentially in another culture. For example:
1. I don’t really identify with American sports, although I do like watching baseball. I actually don’t get the point of basketball, it’s just running back and forth and throwing a ball through a hoop—most of the time the result of the game is only determined in the last minute or two.
2. I am not a big sports person in general, because my parents thought playing sports was a waste of time and we should be instead studying to get into a good college.
3. We were raised that we were punished if we used any bad language, so I can’t use the four-letter words which somehow demonstrate you are masculine.
4. We were heavily chaperoned in terms of being around girls/women and so were they, so the concept of “hooking up” is foreign to me.
I don’t think I am any less “manly” because of any of that, although I usually stick out like a sore thumb in a “guys-only” discussion around the water fountain.