What is Manly?

I was reading something recently about manliness, and it got me thinking. What are the qualities of being 'Manly'? What does it mean? what activities are or are not 'Manly'?

I consider myself a man. My genetics, my physical appearance, and the choices I make in my formation of my identity all support that decision. The gender I perform is male. But is that the same thing?

I don't like sports. I don't like playing them, I don't like watching them. I think fantasy football is just dungeons and dragons for people too chicken to admit they like role playing games. I don't mind sports movies, but only because they only show the best stuff with the most drama.

Fantasy, reality, and the internet

Hi there. You're sitting down, presumably, and reading these words on a computer screen. So far as I'm aware, there isn't a print version of this blog, at least not yet. I bring it up because those are the things you can know for sure. Those are the realities of this blog.

I pretend that this blog has over a million subscribers, which is completely false. It's a fantasy, a lie developed so that I can feel like I'm reaching a whole lot of people with my ramblings.

Or maybe I'm lying. Maybe I say that no one is reading this, but actually, the stats on the site are ridiculous. Maybe you think you're the only one you know who reads this, but maybe everyone does. Maybe you all just don't want to talk about it.

I can understand why. I talk about life lessons and SFW stuff most of the time, but there are also some pretty hardcore fetish fantasy stories on here. And knowing that the borderline pornography (or blatant porn) is the most popular, maybe you're just nervous about letting other people know what you like, or about them thinking you enjoy something that you don't.

The point is, we can't be sure. Maybe everything I say is a lie. Maybe it's all true. There's no way to be completely certain.