I originally heard this
term while watching a
George Carlin special and it was again brought to mind by a recent airing of
Politically Incorrect with
Bill Maher in which he was addressing the
issue of the repression of the
male ego.
This term refers to the tendency of American males of the last decade to soften their natures in response to a perceived desire by women to have less masculine men.
The first difficulty is that most women don't want less masculine men. We like masculine men. What we don't like are assholes. And while all men are pigs, not all men are assholes, and it's an unfortunate occurrence that the terms asshole and manly have become intertwined. Some might point to the feminist groups as being responsible for this misconception, and while I acknowledge that they have put forth this concept, they represent all women in much the same way the men in feather boas and makeup at the gay pride festivals represent all gays.
Another hurdle is that men are more aggressive. It's genetic. It's part of their role as the hunter and protector as it's part of women's nature to tend to be more nurturing. Of course, everyone is different, and so too are the strengths of their tendancies. When a man, or anyone, denies his nature, it will lead to a wide variety of difficulties. Repression is never good. Redirection is preferred. This is part of why we no longer have legal duels to the death and instead have hockey, boxing and football. Aggression is a fact of life in men and women. Outlets are required and must be allowed or there may be dire consequences.
This trend is not the fault of women. It is also not the fault of men. It is, rather, the result of miscommunication between the two caused by differing values. Women don't want men as their slaves, in general. Women also do not want women with dicks (unless they're lesbians, but that's a different node). Regardless of any other qualities, women want honesty.
Women want honesty in relationships, whether they are platonic or romantic. It may be pointed out that some women like to play mind games (men too) in their relationships. My answer is that anyone who feels it necessary to pretend that he or she is unlike themselves in order to attract a mate or lover is likely not mature enough to sustain any sort of meaningful relationship in the first place.
If you cry at romantic movies or when you stub your toe, then cry, but don't do it because you think it'll impress girls. By all means, watch tennis and figure skating if you enjoy it, but if you'd rather be watching monster trucks or the World's Strongest Man competition, let her know and be democratic in what you watch. You could get lucky and find out she likes monster trucks, too. You can be macho without being disgusting or rude and you can be gallant without being a chauvinist. If a woman doesn't like you the way you are but you are happy with yourself and don't see any need to change, then don't.
It doesn't matter how many people like you if you don't like yourself.