“Masculinity is tragic. Masculinity is a lifelong struggle, a gauntlet run against nature and other men to demonstrate virility and prove one’s worthiness as a man in the eyes of other men. Masculinity is a challenge to honor that ends only in death- a challenge to win coupled with a guarantee that, eventually, even the best man will lose.” — Jack Donavan
When it comes to masculinity, there isn’t much you can do that is going to put you ahead of a man who is willing to step into a cage wearing 4 oz gloves in front of a crowd to fight another man who spends 6 hours per day training to injure other human beings until one of them is knocked out or disabled.
Still, even if that’s what you do, a woman can still be turned off because you’re not masculine enough. Here’s Miriam Nakamoto talking about how a relationship with a “great boyfriend” was ruined because she found the way he splayed his hands while he was being beaten wasn’t masculine enough.