The ‘masculine’ man has seen an evolution. The most nascent ideas of idealised masculinity come from ancient lore; of Greek heroes and Gods that set the template for a masculinity ideal that would be gently tweaked for generations after it. Look at Ares, the God Of War, as a paradigm; unyielding, heroic, brave, strong–unwaveringly fearless, with an emotional exoskeleton of steel. It was the purest contrast to the ideals of femininity: soft, malleable, ready for the rescue.
That masculinity ideal saw many avatars—from the ‘Christian and chivalric’ mediaeval European edition, the bare-knuckle boxer of 19th-century America, the blue-collar Brando in , to off-screen Jason Momoa circa now. But one thing stayed at its core through every rendition and remix: a pillar enough to tether every new version to it with a fairly short leash.
