Definitions HQ

Masculinity (n.) means ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠knowing what you want and doing what it takes to get it — a lesson that, once learned, cannot be forgotten without great psychic loss.

Masculinity (n.) guards ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠its manly prestige even when unthreatened — behind men's vanity and prejudices, more often than not, they are suffering merely from fear.

Masculinity (n.) carried ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠to the extreme guards a hidden, very soft emotional life — the repressed femininity that accumulates in the unconscious.

Masculinity (n.) can ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠afford to be tender and patient like a woman when a man is sure of it — just as a woman who is woman from head to toe can afford to be masculine.

Masculinity (n.) of ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the anatomical kind is far from proof of psychic masculinity — just as physiological age need not match psychological age.

Masculinity (n.) and ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠femininity are like stores of substance used unequally in the first half of life: the man spends his masculine supply, and at fifty winds up his business while his wife dons the trousers and opens a little shop.