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Unless you regularly read this blog, you may never have heard someone use the word manliness<\/i> in writing or conversation. Ditto for manly<\/i>, unless it was said a bit in jest and with the requisite eye roll. And you almost assuredly have never complimented another dude on his manful<\/i> effort.<\/p>\n
These days man<\/i> is generally only used to designate a person\u2019s gender. There was a time, however, where man<\/i> \u2013 and its many grammatical derivatives \u2013 represented a distinct trait and quality, and was employed as a descriptive adjective and adverb.<\/p>\n
In our research on manliness over the years, it has been interesting to see the different words that were used to call out a true man and the behaviors befitting a man, and how those words have changed and in some cases disappeared over time. Today we\u2019ll take a look at some of those words and what they used to mean.<\/p>\n
Mention the word manliness<\/i> these days and you\u2019ll probably be greeted with snorts and giggles; people have told me that the first time they visited this site, they thought it was a joke. Many people today associate manliness<\/i> with cartoonish images of men sitting in their man caves, drinking beer and watching the big game. Or, just as likely, they don\u2019t think much about manliness at all, chalking it up to the mere possession of a certain set of genitalia. Whatever image they have in mind when you mention manliness<\/i>, it isn\u2019t usually positive, and it probably has nothing to do with virtue.<\/p>\n
Yet for over two thousand years, many of the world\u2019s great thinkers explored and celebrated the subject of manliness, imagining it not as something silly or biologically inherent, but as the culmination of certain virtues as expressed in the life of a man.<\/p>\n
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The ancient Greek word for courage \u2013 andreia<\/i> \u2013 literally meant manliness<\/i>. Courage was considered the sin qua non<\/i> of being a man; the two qualities were inextricably linked. The Greeks primarily thought of andreia <\/i>in terms of valor and excellence on the battlefield. A man with courage was strong and bold, with a white hot thumos<\/i><\/a>. They believed that to attain full ar\u00eate<\/i> \u2013 or excellence \u2013 a man should join courage with other cardinal virtues<\/a> like wisdom, justice, and temperance. But, they also acknowledged that men who were unjust and unwise could still be fiercely courageous \u2013 and manly<\/i>. At the same time, many philosophers argued that courage was really a form of self-control and was just as essential for success in peacetime as it was in war. Aristotle for example broadly described courage as a man\u2019s ability to \u201chold fast to the orders of reason about what he ought or ought not to fear in spite of pleasure and pain.\u201d<\/p>\n The Roman word for man \u2013 vir<\/i> \u2013 was very similar in definition to the Greek andreia<\/i>. Vir<\/i> was strongly associated with courage, particularly of the martial variety. In the latter part of the Roman era, as excellence became just as necessary in governance as on the battlefield, the traits associated with being a man worthy of the title vir<\/i> expanded to include not just courage, but other qualities such as fortitude, industry, and dutifulness. Thus it is from the Latin vir<\/i> that we get the English word virtue. <\/i> The next great era of man-centric language was the 19th<\/sup> century. Like the ancient Greeks and Romans, English and American thinkers of that time believed manliness<\/i> was not an automatic trait of biology but something that had to be earned. Writers and speakers of this period continued the Roman tradition of defining manliness<\/i> as the possession of a certain set of virtues, adding to the requisite list other qualities befitting a Victorian gentleman:<\/p>\n \u201cManliness means perfect manhood, as womanliness implies perfect womanhood. Manliness is the character of a man as he ought to be, as he was meant to be. It expresses the qualities which go to make a perfect man, \u2014 truth, courage, conscience, freedom, energy, self-possession, self-control. But it does not exclude gentleness, tenderness, compassion, modesty. A man is not less manly, but more so, because he is gentle.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFor anything worthy of the name of Manliness there must be first\u2026the development of all that is in man\u2014the physical, the mental, the moral, and the spiritual\u2026virtue is the highest quality in a man; and so that manliness is most fully realized where the virtues are most fully developed\u2014the virtues, shall we say, of Bravery, Honesty, Activity, and Piety.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Men of the 19th<\/sup> and early 20th<\/sup> centuries also saw manliness<\/i> not simply as a collection of different virtues, but as a virtue in and of itself \u2013 a distinct quality. They encouraged men to embrace manliness<\/i> as the crown of character \u2013 as a kind of ineffable bonus power that was produced when all the other virtues were combined (the Captain Planet of the virtues, if you will). Manliness<\/i> was often noted as a separate, preeminent trait in men worthy of admiration:<\/p>\n \u201cHe is going to be known as a boys\u2019 hero. He is going to be known preeminently for his manliness. There is going to be a Roosevelt legend.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI have grieved most deeply at the death of your noble son. I have watched his conduct from the commencement of the war, and have pointed with pride to the patriotism, self-denial, and manliness of character he has exhibited.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Manliness<\/i> was often used in a way that seemed to imply that while the quality encompassed all the other virtues, it also acted as a balance to them — ensuring that the softer, gentlemanly virtues didn\u2019t sap a man of a virile toughness:<\/p>\n \u201cAfter all, the greatest of Washington\u2019s qualities was a rugged manliness which gave him the respect and confidence even of his enemies.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe have met to commemorate a mighty pioneer feat, a feat of the old days, when men needed to call upon every ounce of courage and hardihood<\/a> and manliness they possessed in order to make good our claim to this continent. Let us in our turn with equal courage, equal hardihood and manliness, carry on the task that our forefathers have entrusted to our hands.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n As it was in antiquity, the measure of manliness<\/i> amongst its citizenry was often linked to the health of the republic:<\/p>\n \u201cGovernment, as recognized by Democracy, pre-supposes manliness, knowledge, wisdom.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe are a vigorous, masterful people, and the man who is to do good work in our country must not only be a good man, but also emphatically a man. We must have the qualities of courage, of hardihood, of power to hold one’s own in the hurly-burly of actual life. We must have the manhood that shows on fought fields and that shows in the work of the business world and in the struggles of civic life. We must have manliness, courage, strength, resolution, joined to decency and morality, or we shall make but poor work of it.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The perfect definition for manly<\/i> can be found in an 1844 Greek and English lexicon, showing as it does a common thread in the understanding of manliness that runs from antiquity, through the 19th<\/sup> century, and up to how we employ the descriptor on AoM in the present day:<\/p>\n \u201cPertaining to a man, masculine; manly; suiting, fit for, becoming a man, or<\/i> made use of by, as manners, dress, mode of life<\/i>; suiting, or worthy of a man, as to action, conduct or sentiments<\/i>, and thus, manly, vigorous, brave, resolute, firm.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Our forbearers used manly<\/i> to modify a whole host of behaviors, traits, and objects. An admirable man might be said to possess \u201cmanly courage,\u201d which was shown by exhibiting \u201cmanly conduct,\u201d making a \u201cmanly stand,\u201d and holding on to his \u201cmanly independence.\u201d Jefferson believed it was the \u201cmanly spirit\u201d of his countrymen that led to revolution. If others did not respect your desire for \u201cmanly liberty,\u201d you had to resort to wielding a \u201cmanly sword.\u201d Correspondence that was frank in its contents was held up as a \u201cmanly letter.\u201d Dress that made a young man seem more mature was advertised as a \u201cmanly suit.\u201d Keeping things \u201csimple and on point\u201d might get you complimented for your \u201cmanly speech,\u201d while being \u201ccandid,\u201d \u201cunaffected,\u201d and \u201cforcible\u201d would earn you praise for a \u201cmanly delivery.\u201d How you carried yourself mattered too; George Washington, for one, was described as having \u201ca fine, manly bearing\u201d and men talked about the elements of a \u201cmanly handshake<\/a>\u201d long before we did. And a boy who precociously sought to embody the traits of manliness was considered a \u201cmanly boy.\u201d<\/p>\n Manful<\/i> (or manfully<\/em>) was sometimes used in a similar way as manly<\/i>. But there were some shades of difference between the two descriptors, even if people weren\u2019t always sure exactly what those differences were. 1871\u2019s Synonyms Discriminated<\/i>, argued that:<\/p>\n \u201cMANFUL is commonly applied to conduct; MANLY, to character. Manful opposition; manly bravery. Manful is in accordance with the strength of a man; manly, with the moral excellence of a man. Manful is what a man would, as such, be likely to do; manly, what he ought to do, and to feel as well.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Another lexicographer put it this way:<\/p>\n “Manful <\/i>points to the energy and vigor of a man; manly, <\/i>to the generous and noble qualities of a man. The first is opposed to weakness or cowardice, the latter to that which is puerile or mean. We speak of manful exertion without so much reference to the character of the thing for which exertion is made, but manly conduct is that which has reference to a thing worthy of a man.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n English Synonyms Explained<\/i> saw the difference from another angle:<\/p>\n \u201cMANLY, or like a man, is opposed to juvenile, and of course applied properly to youths; but MANFUL, or full of manhood, is opposed to effeminate, and is applicable more properly to grown persons.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n In practice, authors seemed not to have followed either of these usage rules \u2013 and manly<\/i> and manful<\/i> were employed fairly interchangeably. Manfully<\/em> came in handy for when an adverb was needed to note the manful-ness of an action. But as manful<\/i> appears in old texts much less frequently than manly<\/i>, and is far less familiar to the modern reader, one can likely assume that the confusion of when to use which led to the latter supplanting the former as the catch-all for behaviors and actions befitting a man.<\/p>\n The code of honor for a man of the 19th<\/sup> century included many qualities, principal among which was self-control. A man of this time strived to have a stiff upper lip and be calm and cool even under the most trying of circumstances.<\/p>\n To lose one\u2019s self-control was to lose one\u2019s claim to manhood, and thus men of this time described such a slip as being unmanned<\/i>. One dictionary of the time defined unmanned<\/i> as \u201cdeprived of the powers and qualities of a man. Softened.\u201d The term was frequently used in reference to a man\u2019s giving in to a strong emotional reaction:<\/p>\n \u201cWhen told that his recovery was hopeless, he was perfectly unmanned, and wept like a child. It is here introduced as showing that while his own misfortunes never for a single moment disturbed his equanimity, the finer feelings of his nature were sensitively alive to the distresses of others.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRichard turned to stay the torrent of invectives, in which such words as “renegades,” “traitors,” “mud-sills,” were heard, but the colonel, completely unmanned by the rage he was in, and seemingly unconscious of the presence of the ladies, waved him aside with his hand, and faced the row of frightened, expectant faces.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n A man whose courage failed him could be said to have been \u201cunmanned by terror.\u201d Or if he drank to the point of losing self-control, he might say the liquor had unmanned<\/i> him.<\/p>\n One of the most poignant tales of a famous man admitting to being unmanned<\/i> comes from Abraham Lincoln. One of the first deaths in the Civil War \u2013 Elmer Ellsworth — was a close friend of the president. Right after receiving news of Ellsworth\u2019s death, a reporter and Senator came into the White House library to speak with Lincoln. Upon entering, they saw him gazing mournfully out the window at the Potomac. He abruptly turned around, stuck out his arm, and said, \u201cExcuse me, but I cannot talk.\u201d He then burst into tears and began walking around the room, holding a handkerchief to his face as he cried. The two visitors were unsure of what to do; as the reporter later remembered, they were \u201cmoved at such an unusual spectacle, in such a man, in such a place.\u201d After several minutes, the president turned to them and said, \u201cI make no apology gentlemen, for my weakness, but I knew poor Ellsworth well, and held him in high regard. Just as you entered the room, Captain Fox left me, after giving me the painful details of his unfortunate death. The event was so unexpected, and the recital so touching, that it quite unmanned me.\u201d Lincoln then \u201cmade a violent attempt to restrain his emotion\u201d before sharing the details of his friend\u2019s death.<\/p>\n While words like manliness<\/i> and manful<\/i> have fallen out of favor in our modern age, our current culture does have its own usages of man-related language.<\/p>\n Man<\/i> is sometimes tacked on to words to show that they are made for men or have a particularly manly slant, e.g., man purse<\/i>. Or man<\/i> is merged into the word itself, such as mancation<\/i>. Some of these uses are faintly ridiculous, but I\u2019m not above using them myself when I feel it\u2019s appropriate or makes a worthy new word. I quite like the word manvotional<\/i><\/a> for a piece of text that will inspire a man\u2019s spirit, and using a phrase like man room<\/i><\/a> avoids the man-as-Neanderthal connotations of man cave<\/i> while more succinctly describing a room in which many different manly activities might take place, without having to list out \u201cstudy, garage, workshop, library\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n But perhaps the dominant man-related term of our modern times is man up<\/i>. I had always sort of assumed that this now-ubiquitous exhortation was of a somewhat older vintage \u2013 that maybe it was coined mid-twentieth century, and had simply been widely discovered and popularized in the last decade or so. But a search for the phrase in Google Books, limited to the 19th<\/sup> and 20th<\/sup> centuries, turned up no results, except for an archaic use of manning up<\/i> as a term for staffing positions at a business. A search of the archives from the twenty-first century, however, turned up hundreds of books that included the phrase, among which were at least two dozen that used the imperative in the title itself.<\/p>\n Ben Zimmer, author of the \u201cOn Language\u201d column at The New York Times<\/i>, traces the origin of man up<\/i> back to the 1980s<\/a> and American football. It was first used in reference to the man-to-man pass defense. For example, in 1985, New York Jets head coach Joe Walton lauded his D-line and their coach for \u201cplaying the kind of defense that I wanted and that Bud Carson teaches \u2014 aggressive, man up, getting after it, hustling all over the field.\u201d From there the phrase began to take on a more metaphorical cast \u2013 as an exhortation to get tough and go hard. The earliest example Zimmer found of this kind of usage is a quote from San Diego Chargers defensive tackle Mike Charles, who told The Union Tribune <\/i>in 1987: \u201cRight now, by the grace of God, we\u2019re hanging by the skin of our teeth. Now we\u2019ve got to man up and take care of ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n Man up<\/i> soon became part of the lingo in another all-male organization that put a premium on grit and strength: the military. Soldiers used it to exhort their brothers-in-arms to pull their weight \u2013 as an admonishment to give their best and not become the weak link in the unit.<\/p>\n Thus man up<\/i> began as an imperative used in male honor groups<\/a>; born of the reality that each man had a role to play in contributing to the overall strength of the team or unit, it was a man-to-man call to live up to the standards of the group and not let each other down. But as man up<\/i> gained in usage in the popular culture, it started being used in a variety of contexts \u2013 often by women or feminist organizations seeking to tap into the traditional mechanics of honor and shame in an attempt to motivate men to adopt certain behaviors. For example the \u201cMan Up Campaign\u201d is a \u201cglobal movement\u201d which aims to \u201cend gender-based violence and advance gender equality.\u201d There was also a bit of brouhaha during the most recent Nevada senatorial race when female Republican candidate Sharron Angle told Senator Harry Reid to “Man up!” during a debate. The implication was that Harry Reid was less than a man because he lacked a backbone. The problem when women tell men to “man up!” is that there isn’t really an equally shame-inducing phrase that men can level at women that implies the same thing but won\u2019t get the man criticized for being sexist or patronizing. “Woman up!” just doesn’t sound right (there\u2019s a reason for that<\/a>). I’ve heard the phrase “put on your big girl panties” said by other women, but if that were to come from a man, it would not likely be received very well!<\/p>\n The road to manliness is paved with…hair gel?<\/p><\/div>\n Man up<\/i> has also been distanced from its origins by being used as a chastisement for those who run afoul of the superficial violations of the \u201cBro Code.\u201d Advertisers, which have always used shame to sell products, have recently taken to using man up<\/i> to market their wares as the manly choice. For example, Miller Lite ran a recent campaign that revolved around hot female bartenders shaming men for their ambivalence as to which light beer brand was best, as well as the man\u2019s unforgivably effeminate fashion accessories.<\/p>\n There was even an ABC sitcom called Man Up<\/i> in 2011 which revolved around the \u201chilarious\u201d antics of a group of man-children. With super cool and relevant episode titles like \u201cFinessing the Bromance,\u201d it was surprisingly canceled after only 8 episodes.<\/p>\n Man up<\/i> has become so clich\u00e9 and meaningless, I\u2019ve stopped using it myself and on AoM altogether.<\/p>\n Describing positive virtues and actions displayed by men as manly<\/i> or manful<\/i> has gone out of vogue because of our society’s increasing emphasis on gender neutrality. While I agree that both men and women can strive to be courageous, resolute, and disciplined, I think there’s something to be said about qualifying a virtue or action as manly<\/i> or manful<\/i> that inspires men to live up to that ideal. Unlike women, men are (generally) more sensitive to status — particularly to their status in regards to whether they’re a man or not. Most young men want those around them to see them as men<\/i> and they’ll go to great lengths to conform to the norms their culture and society sets for earning that title.<\/p>\n Many of you might think it’s stupidly archaic that men care about whether they’re manly or not, and they just shouldn’t give a rip. But I’m a pragmatist. Men have always cared about their status as men and probably always will. Even when men say they don’t care about manliness, they usually couch it in a way that shows that they’re actually more manly because they don’t care about being manly! They try to defeat gender normativity with\u2026 gender normativity. Hubba-wha?<\/p>\n I’d argue that instead of trying to convince men not to care (which is a losing battle), we’d be better served reviving the classical meaning of these manly descriptors to help inspire men to strive for virtue and excellence. If we want men to be morally courageous and honorable and compassionate, talk about these virtues as being manly<\/i> courage, manly<\/i> honor, and manly<\/i> compassion. You get the idea.<\/p>\n And as we’ve discussed countless times on the site and in our books, I think it’s possible to describe an action or virtue as manly<\/i> while recognizing that men don’t have a monopoly on these virtues and actions. As ancient literature and writings have shown, both men and women can strive for the same virtues, we just often attain them and express them in different ways.<\/p>\n So here’s to bringing back manly<\/i> language!<\/p>\n Just don’t get too carried away with it. You don’t have to put manly<\/i> in front of every damn thing you think is good. That will just ruin it for the rest of us. Use some manly<\/em> discretion.<\/p>\n Oh yeah, and stay manly<\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n _________<\/p>\n Editor’s note: All the quotes above, unless otherwise cited, come from various books from the 19th and early 20th centuries. If you’re interested in further reading, they can all be found for free on Google Books.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Unless you regularly read this blog, you may never have heard someone use the word manliness in writing or conversation. Ditto for manly, unless it was said a bit in jest and with the requisite eye roll. And you almost assuredly have never complimented another dude on his manful effort. 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\n<\/b><\/p>\nManliness<\/b><\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\nManly<\/b><\/b><\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\nManful<\/b><\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\nUnmanned<\/b><\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\nModern Day: Man Up!<\/b><\/h3>\n
![\"Man](\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Man-Up.jpg\")
Conclusion<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\n