The New Masculine

Gender is a construct; but one that invariably factors into attraction. In a 2024 world where the scope of gender is more multifarious than ever, what does it mean to be 'masculine'?

The ‘masculine’ man has seen an evolution. The most nascent ideas of idealised masculinity come from ancient lore; of Greek heroes and Gods that set the template for a masculinity ideal that would be gently tweaked for generations after it. Look at Ares, the God Of War, as a paradigm; unyielding, heroic, brave, strong–unwaveringly fearless, with an emotional exoskeleton of steel. It was the purest contrast to the ideals of femininity: soft, malleable, ready for the rescue.

That masculinity ideal saw many avatars—from the ‘Christian and chivalric’ mediaeval European edition, the bare-knuckle boxer of 19thcentury America, the blue-collar Brando in Streetcar, to off-screen Jason Momoa circa now. But one thing stayed at its core through every rendition and remix: a pillar of strength. A person that was the zenith of infallibility—trustworthy, heroic, courageous. Masculinity remained rooted in that original lore just enough to tether every new version to it with a fairly short leash.

The conversation on constructs around gender tie into that idea more today. What does masculinity and femininity mean now, in a world where genders can exist in the gradient between these diametric extremes? Non-binariness emerged in a break from gender ascriptions that were handed down to us like our sister’s school sneakers; a redefining of aspirational qualities that a person born into a certain body ought to possess. It challenged gender tropes, not by a vehement dismantling, but by simply hitting ‘unsubscribe’ altogether. But, despite masculinity and femininity still co-existing beside it, they did not remain unchanged by its emergence.