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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to not know what is the definition of a man?

156 replies

Elendon · 29/01/2018 14:12

I simply cannot define a man unless I bring biology into it.

Can anyone tell me what the definition of a man is?

OP posts:
Flutterbyeee · 29/01/2018 14:13

Man has a penis. Woman doesn't.

etap · 29/01/2018 14:14

Man: Not a woman

youngnomore · 29/01/2018 14:15

Man🕺Woman 💃

Trinity66 · 29/01/2018 14:15

Man has a penis. Woman doesn't.

.

araiwa · 29/01/2018 14:15

Well it's not quite a mop, and it's not quite a puppet, but man... So, to answer your question, I don't know.

Oh wait, thats a muppet, not a man

Wooh, spideysense tells me another trans thread incoming

BertrandRussell · 29/01/2018 14:17

An adult human of the class that produces sperm.

HRHRoyalGala · 29/01/2018 14:17

XY chromosomes. 99.9% of the time has a penis.

Cath2907 · 29/01/2018 14:18

An adult human with XY chromosomes.

UpstartCrow · 29/01/2018 14:19

Without biology, no.
A man is an adult human male, belonging to the class of people that have XY chromosomes, and produce small, motile gametes that do not transfer mitochondrial DNA to their offspring.
Men have external genitals consisting of a penis and two testicles, designed to ejaculate semen, which contains the sperm.

Sterile men or men who who cannot grow a beard are still men in the same way that one legged men still belong to the class of animals that are bipedal, because that's how class definitions work.

HRHRoyalGala · 29/01/2018 14:19

I wouldn’t want to be a GCSE Science teacher nowadays!

ConfusedWife1234 · 29/01/2018 14:20

Without bringing biology into it? I think it depends a lot on country, religion, culture, social class, time. There is no one definition.

HollyBayTree · 29/01/2018 14:21

The dicationary is disagreeing with you all wink

man
/man/
noun
noun: man; plural noun: men; noun: Man; noun: the Man

  1. an adult human male.
"a small man with mischievous eyes"

synonyms: male, adult male, gentleman, youth; More
informalguy, fellow, geezer, gent, mother's son;

  1. a human being of either sex; a person.
"God cares for all men"

synonyms: human being, human, person, mortal, individual, personage, soul
"all men are mortal"

UsernameInvalid66 · 29/01/2018 14:21

Man has a penis. Woman doesn't.

Whether or not penises come into your definition, a person also needs to be over 18 to be a man.

ConfusedWife1234 · 29/01/2018 14:21

I think not every man has XY chromosomes. Some have XYY (Jacobs syndrome).

Abracadabraapileofbollocks · 29/01/2018 14:22

Unless you are going to use outdated notions of personality gender characteristics then biology is a useful (not quite binary) way to go. But of course you'd get your arse kicked (metaphorically and with literal threats) were you to do that.

Viviennemary · 29/01/2018 14:23

The definition must now be what the individuals involved want it to be. The same thing has happened with marriage. The old definition has gone.

araiwa · 29/01/2018 14:23

Why wouldnt you use biology? Its a biological category.

Can you tell me what green is? Without using colour

Elendon · 29/01/2018 14:23

So what would make me a man if I didn't have a penis?

Would I have to forgo my face cream, hair products, shaving equipment, long hair, pony tail?

OP posts:
ConfusedWife1234 · 29/01/2018 14:25

I think again the age one becomes a man depends on culture. I think not long ago 21 used to be the age most people where considered a man but in Roman times 14 year olds where considered men in their prime. People lived shorter.

Should people be considered men when they are legally allowed to serve in the military? When they are legally allowed to drive? When they are allowed to drink? When they are allowed to vote? Depending on countries that different ages.

QuiteLikely5 · 29/01/2018 14:26

But you know what a man is? It’s been defined for centuries

ConfusedWife1234 · 29/01/2018 14:29

Has it? I am not so sure. It has been defined what a male is, but a man is not a male. Many cultures had rites de passage for boys becoming men, which where sometimes quite cruel.

In other cultures only free people (as opposed to serves) where really considered men. In some cultures only those who earned well where considered men who where allowed to marry.

HRHRoyalGala · 29/01/2018 14:30

An estimated 99.93% of adult humans have xx or xy chromosomes.

The other 0.07% are due to mutations.

HRHRoyalGala · 29/01/2018 14:35

A biological man and a societal man have been the same thing for most of history. Now, we’re seeing a divide.

For me, a man is someone with xy chromosomes who appears to have male characteristics (and this is tricky to define because it’s not just clothes and hair, but pheromones and mannerisms). Societally, we’re moving towards accepting anyone who says they’re a man as a man.

ConfusedWife1234 · 29/01/2018 14:36

I think it has nothing todo with long or short hair, face cream, shaving products, hair products Elendon. In the past men had long hair and even used make up. Think of Rococo.

HRHRoyalGala · 29/01/2018 14:38

Elendon in my view and the view of many, many others, if you’re born with xx chromosomes, you can’t become a man. You can present as one and change your looks, name and pronouns, and maybe you’ll pass as one, but you can’t change your chromosomes.