Men and Women

[The Hammer]

What exactly makes a man a "man"?

What exactly makes a woman a "woman"?


Edited:

Who gets to make these decisions for themselves? Others?

 

[SalixIncendium]

The same thing that makes you a man, a Druid, and @The Hammer.

Your own self-image.

 

[The Hammer]

The same thing that makes you a man, a Druid, and @The Hammer.

Your own self-image.

You and I agree here. But it seems many others disagree. So I'd like to see how some are defining these terms to themselves.

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

The same thing that makes you a man, a Druid, and @The Hammer.

Your own self-image.

You and I agree here. But it seems many others disagree. So I'd like to see how some are defining these terms to themselves.

Agree with both of you. Trouble is, and I've lived with this all of my life, far too many people will agree with us -- so long as "your own self-image" fits within the parameters they set for themselves.

I don't imagine that the great mass of people will ever let go of the notion that "people should be like us" (where "us" is defined as "like me"). Sort of "live and let live, so long as you live like me."

 

[Quester]

What exactly makes a man a "man"?

What exactly makes a woman a "woman"?


Edited:

Who gets to make these decisions for themselves? Others?

My take boils down to ... men and women are first off - "people" ... human beings - that's it. The ONLY difference between them covers the reproductive aspect of life.

 

[icehorse]

What exactly makes a man a "man"?

What exactly makes a woman a "woman"?


Edited:

Who gets to make these decisions for themselves? Others?

Biological sex, overwhelmingly binary, often matters - a lot.

Every individual can feel free to have or express any personality they like, but that can never change their sex.

 

[Twilight Hue]

What exactly makes a man a "man"?

What exactly makes a woman a "woman"?


Edited:

Who gets to make these decisions for themselves? Others?

My answer is divine!

 

[mikkel_the_dane]

Biological sex, overwhelmingly binary, often matters - a lot.

Every individual can feel free to have or express any personality they like, but that can never change their sex.

That it matters is personal, subjective and without evidence.
I need an objective rational answer with evidence from you.

 

[mikkel_the_dane]

What exactly makes a man a "man"?

What exactly makes a woman a "woman"?


Edited:

Who gets to make these decisions for themselves? Others?

As far as I can tell it works like this. Some people accept subjective diversity. Other people don't accept that, but that they don¨t accept is not really subjective, because it is rationally self-evidence as for how the world is.

 

[Twilight Hue]

The same thing that makes you a man, a Druid, and @The Hammer.

Your own self-image.

To thine own self be true.

 

[Stevicus]

What exactly makes a man a "man"?

What exactly makes a woman a "woman"?


Edited:

Who gets to make these decisions for themselves? Others?

It seems to be a cultural thing which varies from society to society. Here's an interesting article on some of the rites of manhood in other societies: 8 Interesting (And Insane) Male Rites of Passages From Around the World

At the heart of the modern crisis of manhood is the extension of adolescence, a boyhood which is stretching on for a longer and longer period of time. Once thought to end in a man’s 20s at the latest, men are extending their adolescence into their 30’s and in some especially sad cases, their 40’s.

But in some ways it’s not their fault. It’s the fault of a culture in which rites of passage have all but disappeared, leaving men adrift and lost, never sure when and if they’ve become men. Today’s men lack a community of males to initiate them into manhood and to recognize their new status.

Across time and place, cultures have inherently understood that without clear markers on the journey to manhood, males have a difficult time making the transition and can drift along indefinitely. Thus, rites of passage were clearly delineated in nearly every culture as one of the community’s most important rituals.

While almost every culture had a rite of passage ritual, there existed a great diversity in what these ceremonies consisted of. The common thread was an experience that involved emotional and physical pain and required a boy to pass the test of manhood: to show courage, endurance, and the ability to control one’s emotions.

The following are a few of the interesting (read:insane and crazy) rite of passage rituals that existed (and in some cases still exist) around the world. While they be quite offensive to our modern, Western sensibilities, each was born of different cultures’ beliefs of what made a man, a man.

 

[icehorse]

That it matters is personal, subjective and without evidence.
I need an objective rational answer with evidence from you.

If you care, go find it.

But I don't think you actually care

 

[McBell]

Biological sex, overwhelmingly binary, often matters - a lot.

Every individual can feel free to have or express any personality they like, but that can never change their sex.

In your mind, what is the difference, if any, between, "man" and "male"?

 

[McBell]

Biological sex, overwhelmingly binary, often matters - a lot.

Example?

Because other than for medical reasons, I fail to see how it "matters - a lot"

 

[Koldo]

What exactly makes a man a "man"?

What exactly makes a woman a "woman"?

As a rule of thumb, the gonads and secondary sex characteristics. That works about 98~99% of the time without any dispute.

 

[Kathryn]

All I know is that I treat others the way I want to be treated. So far so good.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Biological sex, overwhelmingly binary, often matters - a lot.

Every individual can feel free to have or express any personality they like, but that can never change their sex.

What do you mean by "sex"?

 

[icehorse]

What do you mean by "sex"?

You are unclear on the idea of biological sex? really?

I majored in molecular biology at uni. (admittedly that was a long time ago )

But this seems like a solid, workable definition:

Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing organism produces male or female gametes. During sexual reproduction, a male and a female gamete fuse to form a zygote, which develops into an offspring that inherits traits from each parent

 

[icehorse]

Example?

Because other than for medical reasons, I fail to see how it "matters - a lot"

In addition to medical reasons, it matters when safeguarding women and girls, it matters in sports competitions, it matters in affirmative action...

 

[crossfire]

As far as I can tell it works like this. Some people accept subjective diversity. Other people don't accept that, but that they don¨t accept is not really subjective, because it is rationally self-evidence as for how the world is.

Indeed! Individual thinkers recognize subjective diversity and are open-minded to new ideas. Collectivist thinkers (possessed by the collective cultural nomos) range from putting up with subjective diversity to being downright terrified of it, depending upon their degree of obsession/possession, and tend to be closed-minded to other ideas.