TJ Morris
English 100.02
September 30, 2007
Androgynous Man vs. Masculine Man
In the article The Appeal of the Androgynous Man, written by Amy Gross, stats
the differences between the Androgynous Man and the Masculine Man. The differences
that she points out are completely clear and make a lot of sense. The Androgynous Man
and the Masculine Man are polar opposites of one another, both at opposite extremes.
The Androgynous Man knows how to care for a woman and take care of her without
hesitating, while on the other hand a more Masculine Man would stubble, trip, and fall
over what to do when it comes to helping out a woman. The Androgynous Man and the
Masculine Man are two totally different people because of three main factors:
personality, emotions, and imagination.
When it comes to personality the Androgynous Man and the Masculine Man
aren’t even close to matching up. The Androgynous Man can go a day without talking
himself up or having a whole conversation where the woman can just sit and talk about
her feelings and not worry about getting interrupted. The Androgynous Man has a more
loose personality and doesn’t have to make dirty jokes just to be the center of attention.
“He is more self-amused, less inflated, more quirky, vulnerable and responsive than the
other sort. He is more like me than the other sort” (Gross 160). The Androgynous Man
is not gay, and they don’t have to be metro-sexual, there just men who have male and
female characteristics. The Masculine Man on the other hand is obsessed with himself
not because he wants to be but because he doesn’t know how else to act. He talks about
himself because he thinks that’s what people want to hear or he doesn’t know enough
about anything else to hold down an intellectual conversation about something else. The
Masculine Man is also very competitive. “He competes on the field, whatever his field
is, and the bed is just one more field to him: another opportunity to perform, another
fray” (Gross 162). Women are sometimes considered a “sport” to the Masculine Man. In
the locker room the more notches in your bedposts the better. Another example of what
sets the Androgynous Man apart from the Masculine Man.
The Androgynous Man is more emotional than the Masculine Man. The
Androgynous Man connects on a more level plain with women because they are
emotional. The Androgynous Man doesn’t have a problem with crying or talking on the
phone for hours just to fix a problem and they will talk about it if there is a problem. The
Masculine Man on the other hand doesn’t cry or if he does he won’t admit it to anyone at
all. The Masculine Man doesn’t connect with a woman on an emotional level because he
doesn’t know what she wants. Women can just cry just to cry, and the Masculine Man
just doesn’t understand that.
The Androgynous Man’s imagination is ten steps of the Masculine Man’s.
Masculine Men think that flowers still melt a women’s heart, or a nice dinner gets you a
free ticket for a “long” night, but they don’t anymore. Today women still want the
flowers and the nice dinner but that doesn’t work every time. All they want is to be
surprised. Women want to know that their man actually took time out of his day to think
of a nice date that isn’t tradition, but original. That’s what gets a man that “free ticket”.
Unfortunately, the Masculine Man hasn’t mastered this fine art, but the Androgynous
Man has. In fact, the Androgynous Man has more than mastered it, he has perfected it in
the sense that they do it everyday in the little things they do that women find absolutely
astonishing.
The Androgynous Man’s imagination is unimaginable to say the least. They think
of the littlest things that mean so much to a woman. It could be making a card, sending
flowers to her work, or just buying her that present that she’s wanted on a random
Wednesday. The Androgynous Man would set up the table and cook dinner so when his
wife got home she could just sit back and relax. The Masculine Man on the other hand
really doesn’t know how to actually surprise a woman. He could buy her flowers, buy
her that gift, but it’s the way he presents it to her. It’s not the gift that surprises the
woman but in the way it’s given to her. Just getting her flowers or a card doesn’t show
her you care; it’s how you give it to her.
All in all, the Androgynous Man and the Masculine Man are complete polar
opposites. The Androgynous Man knows exactly what a woman wants and doesn’t have
to hesitate in doing it, while the Masculine Man doesn’t know what or when to do with a
woman. I’m not saying that being Androgynous is better than being Masculine, all I’m
saying is that they are total opposites. Some woman like a more Androgynous Man and
some woman like a more Masculine Man, and which ever one they pick, both come with
their positives and negatives.