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'?

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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.