masculinity

Definition

The degree or property of being masculine or manly; manliness.

Etymology

From French masculinité, from Old French, equivalent to masculine + -ity. Earlier in same sense was masculineness.

Example Sentences

• "Over time, society's ideas of masculinity has greatly broadened."
• "Of the six homosexual patients, three men finally overcame the underlying vaginaphobia, increased their heterosexual activities, and enhanced their masculinity."
• "Steven Cohan highlights the suggestive qualities of Red Rivers dominant narrative, the opposition between the radically different masculinities Clift and Wayne represent: "the highly charged context between the soft boy and the hard man in '''Red River dramatizes such a shift in the mainstream culture's demands upon ''masculinity"."

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