I Heart My Masculinity

I have some mannish tendencies. I am terrible about telling other people my plans, I like to work through problems myself, and I lack that innate thoughtfulness that seems to come so naturally to other women. While I rarely think through any of my decisions (fault of a stubborn impulsiveness inherited from my father), I still have the capacity to be painfully rational.

Apparently, these qualities (among a litany of others including belching, farting, and a healthy sense of competition) put me squarely in the men’s camp of the battle between the sexes.

The funny thing is that I see myself as extremely feminine.

When did women have to start walking the fine line between being prissy and being completely butch? Men shouldn’t be the only ones to have to soul-search and try on high heels.

Come on ladies, it’s time to get in touch with your masculine side.

I’ve been listening to a lot of talk recently about how men and women are just wired differently, and women are just more emotional and better listeners and more communicative and more supportive, etc etc etc. And while I think that this is mostly true, it seems to me that a lot of women feel pressured to erase their more masculine traits because they feel like that will make them look odd. With all the progress that we’ve made, we are still falling back into traditional gender roles.

Think about it: If a girl likes sex a lot, she is called a slut. If a woman makes a logical decision which has the unfortunate side effect of hurting someone’s feelings or stepping over someone else, she is seen as a cutthroat b*tch. If a girl likes to eat great big steaks and three helpings at every meal, people will think she’s a pig. Or has an eating disorder.

If a man does those things, he’s just “one of the boys”.

Why the difference? Why can’t I be manly and leave my dirty socks lying around if I want to?

I want to be a mother and a wife with a nice house and (maybe) a minivan. But there’s no reason why I can’t like beer and hot chicks and watching the game.

[Do you have any 'manly' traits you wish you could embrace?  Say it, sister!]