¡We can no longer be a bunch of empty minds living in critical times refusing to recognize real lies!

Tuesday, 02 October 2012

REDEFINDING BEING A MAN


What is a man? This is a question that haunts all men—straight, gay, bi, and transsexual. We strive to answer it as best we can, given whatever role models we grew up with. Many years ago, when I was managing convenience stores, I had a handsome Latino vendor that came in one day and announced that his girlfriend was pregnant, and that he was now a man. One of society’s prejudices against gay men is that they do not procreate, and since they don’t, gay men are not really men.

You will have to decide what it means for yourself. I think that as a whole, we have moved beyond the "John Wayne, strong, tough, unfeeling" manhood stereotype, but each man must find his own way in life. Can you be a man and get anally penetrated, or perform oral sex on a man? To accept or come to terms with what it means to be a gay man, may, and probably will, mean grieving what you thought made a man. As we let go of our fantasies and ideas about who we are, then grief is a natural process that follows.
For most, being with another man emotionally, sexually, and physically means that you do not have the defined gender roles of a man and woman, either sexually or practically, in a relationship. Most men are, to some degree, sexually versatile, and who cooks, washes the dishes, cleans the house, or does the yard work has to all be negotiated. It is not just assumed, based upon gender, what each man’s role is going to be. So does trading roles make you a partial man? Personally, I think that being a man is about knowing and expressing all the parts of you, the masculine as well as the feminine, the top and the bottom, all defined as a fully integrated you and how you choose to express that. Being gay is an interesting journey, one with less societal rules, and thus more room for creative exploration.

SOURCE: MYOST

4 comments:

  1. My father once told me that being a man was all about compassion, honesty and integrity. I've kept that in mind ever since. Personally, that advice transcends genders and makes us all human.

    As for what society expects a man to be, I think our humanity exceeds our gender. I know what the heterosexual world thinks. I accept what works for me and reject the rest. As for being a same gender loving man, I know what the same heterosexual world thinks that I am. I embrace what I know that is truly me and discard the remainder of the stereotype.

    As always, intriguing and provocative post, my blogger brother! I depend on you to keep it all real!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great post. I will re-read from time to time. One thing I like about being gay is you get to define what being a man is. It is far more than making a baby or bedding down the most women. Roger's father's description was spot on...compassion, honesty and integrity.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I LOVE the point you made about defining what being a man is.

      Delete

THANK YOU FOR YOUR VOICE...

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails