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I’ve seen a lot of posts regarding the author’s idea of what makes a man, how to be a man, the definition of masculinity, or some variation upon the theme. So I thought I’d chime in.

You want to know how to be a man?

Stop reading posts like this.

When you strip away all the obvious clichés like do what you say you’re going to do, stick by the people who mean the most to you, never compromise your ideals, blah blah blah, that’s all there is.

The truth is, nobody can tell you how to be a man. That’s a path you have to forge on your own.

You have to decide what’s most important to you.

You have to define your ideals.

You have to decide what makes you a man, or what makes you fall short of manhood.

If you rely on the standards of others – be it your redneck uncle’s disdain for anything even remotely feminine or my rejection of all traditional gender roles and insistence that you do whatever necessary to make your wife and children happy and secure – you will never be secure in your own masculinity. And with good reason. You won’t be a man, you’ll just be a boy trying on his daddy’s shoes.

Make a gutcheck and look deep inside yourself.

You know if you’re a man – never let someone else make that decision for you.

Walk your path and never let anyone else define you.

If you absolutely must have a second opinion, look at how your wife and kids look at you.  Why would anybody else’s opinion even matter?

I mean, are you really going to let some dude sitting in front of his computer tell you how to be a man?