having qualities and attributes traditionally associated with being a man; possessing traits, behaviours and/or behaviours that are typically associated with the masculine side of the gender spectrum.

Women that possess masculine attributes are known to be butch or tomboys; men with feminine attributes are typically called effeminate or camp. Particularly masculine men may be known as ‘he-men’, although this has also been used with connotations of them being sexist or misogynist, or ‘showy’ in a manner that they seek to prove their masculinity at any opportunity.

Femininity and masculinity are social constructs; however, that is not to say that gender is completely constructed or that there are no environmental or biological factors in play, and even as a social construct, concepts of femininity and masculinity aren’t inherently wrong. Traditionally, in society (and still elsewhere), masculinity was prized over femininity, and with that, men over women.

Such attitudes towards masculinity are known as examples of toxic masculinity.