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I really like this question because the responses seem to converge on two plausible explanations that have completely different feels: 1. Women = valuable (thus more expressive freedom), men = disposable (less expressive freedom) 2. Society generally values masculine traits more
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Why does the male gender role have generally less flexibility? Feminine men seem more mocked than masculine women, you can name a baby girl 'Max' but it's weird for a baby boy to be "Sarah", women being bi is basically a fun norm while 'bi guys' are stereotyped as gay. Why?
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I agree with your first observation (as a guy with a bigger feminine side than most) but Max can be short for Maxine, while there is no male-centric version of Sarah.
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Is that necessarily contradictory? Perhaps because men lack inherent evolutionary use (not needed long term for reproduction thus more disposable) they have to provide more societal use in order to exist (above their less useful male rivals)
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I think it's possibly just a definitional difference. The traditional idea of femininity includes the ability to cooperate, compromise, and adapt while the traditional idea of masculinity includes a rigid refusal to compromise or back down.
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I think men displaying less hetero-normative / nb or feminine traits are seen as yielding their masculine/patriarchal advantages or social control. The vacuum threatens men who have fully invested in the patriarchy as a means of establishing identity without having to do any work
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