Evan Urquhart

(I'm going to take a break, and come back to my two remaining Big Questions later today)

OK. Second Big Question time. How does masculinity relate to being a man? This is a question I love thinking about, and it's one where you can go in a lot of different directions. Compared to the first question there isn't as much of a single answer/endpoint here.

We know through observation that all masculine people aren't men, and all men aren't masculine. I'm masculine, and I was masculine even pre-transition, but there are far more masculine men and women than I. Butch lesbians, for example, are generally more masculine than I am.

However, there's obviously some connection between masculinity and maleness, even if it's just that men are more often masculine and women are more often feminine.

Unlike being a man, masculinity can't really be seen as primarily a feeling you have inside. A cis man can want to be masculine, even SAY he's masculine, all he wants and not be masculine. He can even take steps to masculinize his presentation and fall short.

I think there's definitely a place to talk about testosterone here, and it's specific physical and mental/emotional effects. Testosterone makes it easier to build muscle, so muscularity is perceived as masculine (including in women and NBs).

Testosterone deepens voices: A deeper voice is perceived as more masculine. In puberty it also makes people grow taller, broadens shoulders, lengthens faces, squares jaws. All associated with masculinity regardless of AGAB.

I think I've been on pretty safe ground with the physical effects, so let's now take a small, risky step out into mental/emotional effects of testosterone.