what's that? you call yourself man?

Before writing this bolg, I had to ask myself what words or visions came to mind when I thought of "man". Of course there is the obvious, he is not a woman and therefore is not like me in a physical sense. Typically I think of man as stronger, and bigger in build than a woman, perhaps with shorter hair, maybe even facial hair, and a sense of confidence about himself. Generally speaking, throughout history men have been the dominant being. If you read the Bible, "man" merely means "person or people", but is called man because man was dominant. In all of the romance languages, there are masculine and feminine words and having one male and a thousand females deliberates a masculine sense when debating plurals. Since man has been so dominant throughout history, I see him now as dominant. Even though women are moving up in the world, men are already up, and therefore must work even harder to maintain their status. When I think of men, I see someone who can take charge of their life, can provide for others, and keep moving forward in their life. Not only does history maintain that these are typical male traits, but men today keep that status going. If a man cannot do these things for himself or his family, he is not seen as a man. So, generally speaking, I think of men as strong, bold, and dependable.