Gender constructs are complete garbage—they limit your life and prevent you from embracing activities and behaviors that are totally healthy and a lot of fun. For guys, there are a host of stereotypes about masculinity that are limiting—don’t show emotion except anger, reject an interest in aesthetics or personal grooming, don’t watch any movie that doesn’t involve a car chase—and the list of ridiculousness goes on.
Well, f*** that. Men have diverse interests and states of being and many of them aren’t interested in participating in toxic masculinity, which dictates what is “manly” and “unmanly.” Over on Reddit, men shared what “unmanly” activities they proudly participate in, showing us that gender stereotypes are harmful and should be challenged whenever possible.
1.
“I spend a ridiculous amount of time looking up furniture/wall art/etc. just fantasizing about how I’m going to decorate it when I finally get my own place.” — LeglessLegolas
2.
“Baths, for real. Bath bombs rule, my favorite one turns the water black and sparkly and smells like peppermint.” — MothMonsterMan300
3.
“Knitting. It’s pretty fun! I made half a sock yesterday.” — JohnO500
4.
“I have a friend who’s into weightlifting, massive beard, tattoos and generally pretty manly looking. His drink of choice is Amaretto and cranberry juice. I usually like a Guinness or a whiskey. Whenever we’ve gone to a bar and ordered drinks, the barman/maid has always thought the cranberry one is for me. Admittedly it’s fairly tasty.” — TannedCroissant
5.
“Pedicures. I take my wife to get a manicure/pedicure and for an extra $30 I get a foot soak with massage, nails trimmed and the cracked callouses ground down to manageable. I spend 100% of my free time in Hiking boots or flip flops, gnarly heels being the result. No shame in my game. Take care of your feet lads!” — KernIrregular
6.
“I sing personal remixes of popular songs to my pets where I replace words in the song with their name. A lot of the time they’re Disney songs.” — ThunderingSacks
7.
“I moisturise. My skin is very dry and gets itchy. I scratch, make it sore, which then makes it itchy, so I scratch…Moisturising stops this cycle.” — lybertyne
8.
“Fashion. Even in video games, I spend hours customizing my character’s clothes.” — pass_the_aggression
9.
“High tea. I don’t care who you are. You haven’t lived until you’ve eaten tiny cucumber sandwiches and scones off a three-story silver party platter.” — OneHatOnly
10.
“Playing and doing ‘girly’ things with my daughter. She’s 4 and I want to be interactive and engaged with her. Sometimes that means playing ‘tea party’ or painting OUR nails. As in both of us. No problem.” — tall-hairy-white-guy