Should men be stronger then their female companions?

LorinaLynn · September 2012

Think about this guys- what if you were in an accident and were no longer physically strong and able. Would you be any less of a man? Would your spouse/partner love you any less? My husband is 6'5 and well over 200 pounds. He is as masculine as it gets and still would be if he were in a wheelchair and unable to move. To me, masculinity has *nothing* to do with physical strength. It has to do with how you treat a woman, your ethics, your willingness to sacrifice for your family and your ability to command the respect of your friends. That is how I judge a real man- not by how much he can bench.

LOVE!

Christopher Reeves had a lot more strength of character in a wheelchair than he did playing Superman.

_Ivian · September 2012

I've always been more physically fit and stronger than my SOs. But I'm sure it was due to the fact that I trained hard and played sports and they didn't. Didn't bug me and it didn't bug them. To each their own.

BinaryPulsar · September 2012

Think about this guys- what if you were in an accident and were no longer physically strong and able. Would you be any less of a man? Would your spouse/partner love you any less? My husband is 6'5 and well over 200 pounds. He is as masculine as it gets and still would be if he were in a wheelchair and unable to move. To me, masculinity has *nothing* to do with physical strength. It has to do with how you treat a woman, your ethics, your willingness to sacrifice for your family and your ability to command the respect of your friends. That is how I judge a real man- not by how much he can bench.

LOVE!

Christopher Reeves had a lot more strength of character in a wheelchair than he did playing Superman.

I completely agree with all of this.

As a side note: My husband is stronger than me and always will be because he is a lot bigger than me, keeps up with his strength and does not have any injuries. But, it wouldn't bother me if I got stronger after working very hard at it. Also, I can probably do a lot that he can't since I am a dancer (oh, and I also lift weights and strength train... so there is no stereotyping confusion on here).

ArroganceInStep · September 2012

Can't...breathe...political...correctness...suffocating...

You've listed a lot of reasons strength shouldn't be a component of masculinity. Why then is it ok to be a 'strong, independent, woman'? I have yet to see a post on this thread saying that a woman shouldn't be as strong as she could be, and yet comments about men being as strong as they can be are sexist? There is nothing wrong with trying to be as strong as you possibly can. Physiologically speaking (and physical impairments aside) that will just about always be at a higher level than your female SO. So for as long as you can expect other women to be strong and independent, I can expect other men to be strong and independent (read: stronger than your girlfriend). I do, personally, consider physical strength to be a component of 'manliness'. It's not the only thing, though, and can be more than made up for in other ways. Just like I consider boobies to be a component of femininity (phbbbbtssttssspppphbbbtt) but there are plenty of beautiful flat chested women out there that are tremendously feminine. I love them too.

To add, I've heard of this new trend for girlie-men (I'm joking, sheesh don't bite my head off) to try to make themselves feel stronger by preventing their SOs from lifting or whatever? That's utter crap and they should be curbstomped.

There, my rant is done. All that being said, the most impressive physical feat I've seen in my entire life was this past weekend. A guy came into the gym in a wheel chair. Although I didn't ask it looked like he had ALS. This BAMF wheeled over and started doing one armed tricep extensions for reps. Made me feel weak as hell. That guy, I can say without a shadow of a doubt, is stronger than me.

chicky26 · September 2012

Can't...breathe...political...correctness...suffocating...

You've listed a lot of reasons strength shouldn't be a component of masculinity. Why then is it ok to be a 'strong, independent, woman'? I have yet to see a post on this thread saying that a woman shouldn't be as strong as she could be, and yet comments about men being as strong as they can be are sexist? There is nothing wrong with trying to be as strong as you possibly can. Physiologically speaking (and physical impairments aside) that will just about always be at a higher level than your female SO. So for as long as you can expect other women to be strong and independent, I can expect other men to be strong and independent (read: stronger than your girlfriend). I do, personally, consider physical strength to be a component of 'manliness'. It's not the only thing, though, and can be more than made up for in other ways. Just like I consider boobies to be a component of femininity (phbbbbtssttssspppphbbbtt) but there are plenty of beautiful flat chested women out there that are tremendously feminine. I love them too.

To add, I've heard of this new trend for girlie-men (I'm joking, sheesh don't bite my head off) to try to make themselves feel stronger by preventing their SOs from lifting or whatever? That's utter crap and they should be curbstomped.

There, my rant is done. All that being said, the most impressive physical feat I've seen in my entire life was this past weekend. A guy came into the gym in a wheel chair. Although I didn't ask it looked like he had ALS. This BAMF wheeled over and started doing one armed tricep extensions for reps. Made me feel weak as hell. That guy, I can say without a shadow of a doubt, is stronger than me.

LMAO some points to argue with but all I can keep thinking at this moment in time is . . . . . . . . . . .

There are plenty of men too with really nice boobies ha ha ha ha

Jacwhite22 · September 2012

Can't...breathe...political...correctness...suffocating...

You've listed a lot of reasons strength shouldn't be a component of masculinity. Why then is it ok to be a 'strong, independent, woman'? I have yet to see a post on this thread saying that a woman shouldn't be as strong as she could be, and yet comments about men being as strong as they can be are sexist? There is nothing wrong with trying to be as strong as you possibly can. Physiologically speaking (and physical impairments aside) that will just about always be at a higher level than your female SO. So for as long as you can expect other women to be strong and independent, I can expect other men to be strong and independent (read: stronger than your girlfriend). I do, personally, consider physical strength to be a component of 'manliness'. It's not the only thing, though, and can be more than made up for in other ways. Just like I consider boobies to be a component of femininity (phbbbbtssttssspppphbbbtt) but there are plenty of beautiful flat chested women out there that are tremendously feminine. I love them too.

To add, I've heard of this new trend for girlie-men (I'm joking, sheesh don't bite my head off) to try to make themselves feel stronger by preventing their SOs from lifting or whatever? That's utter crap and they should be curbstomped.

There, my rant is done. All that being said, the most impressive physical feat I've seen in my entire life was this past weekend. A guy came into the gym in a wheel chair. Although I didn't ask it looked like he had ALS. This BAMF wheeled over and started doing one armed tricep extensions for reps. Made me feel weak as hell. That guy, I can say without a shadow of a doubt, is stronger than me.

There is a dude with one leg who comes into my gym.....He will do the elliptical for an hour straight. He is my hero.

ArroganceInStep · September 2012

LMAO some points to argue with but all I can keep thinking at this moment in time is . . . . . . . . . . .

There are plenty of men too with really nice boobies ha ha ha ha

THAT DOESN'T MAKE ME ANY LESS OF A MAN!!!!!!!!!

YOU'RE SEXIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BinaryPulsar · September 2012

Can everybody just chill out? She was just feeling proud of being strong.:drinker:

p.s. when I said "stereotyping confusion" I meant about dancers, not women.

MireyGal76 · September 2012

this is an interesting twist... my almost ex is 1/2 " taller than me. (6'1)

And his obsession... was to always weigh less than I do. He constantly asked me my weight, and would jump on the scale. And when he weighed more, it bothered him... a lot.

For me... I'd love a man who could pick me up and carry me off into... another room. Hell - even ten feet would be nice!

crazy4lulu · September 2012

i could kick my hubz *kitten*. but he would like it too much!!

Trechechus · September 2012

This being a normative question, we will never get a single precise answer.

Personally, I don't see what's wrong with women being strong. If she works her *kitten* off while he sits on his butt, then yes, she will be stronger. He has the biological potential to be stronger, but whether he utilizes said potential is up to him. Moping isn't going to change a thing.

HeidiMightyRawr · September 2012

"Should" - No, If a woman is lifting heavy, he shouldn't be expected to keep up just because he's a man. He can do what he likes

I'd assume most men would feel bad about being beaten by a woman though. Also, for me personally a man has to be stronger than me. No it wouldn't be a deal-breaker if I really liked the guy, but it's kinda up there quite high on my priorities.

My goal is to be stronger than most men (average men, or men training not so regularly - not expecting to beat serious male lifters lol) I never want to be stronger than my boyfriend. I will keep going though, and I don't think I have anything to worry about. I've been lifting heavy over 2 years and he's 3x as strong as me currently, at levels I know that I will never see in my life!

ETA: Based on a previous response, I wouldn't love them any less if they were disabled / physically incapable of getting stronger. It wouldn't even put me off a guy if I liked him enough. I don't think of being strong = masculine. It's just purely a physical attraction thing. I am mostly attracted to big strong guys, and I like the being protected feeling. I just can't feel like that if I'm the stronger one.

Jacwhite22 · September 2012

i could kick my hubz *kitten*. but he would like it too much!!

I could see it. Im not sure I would want to arm wrestle you.

DopeItUp · September 2012

Cos I just beat mine at an arm wrestle, as Ive been lifting heavy and he is devastated . . . . . . . . . . oops

you shouldve let him win. poor guy is probably sobbing into his pink pillow cuddling his teddybear right now

I have to admit, I laughed heartily at this post. Talk about emasculating. Poor guy

TheUglyFriend · September 2012

this is an interesting twist... my almost ex is 1/2 " taller than me. (6'1)

And his obsession... was to always weigh less than I do. He constantly asked me my weight, and would jump on the scale. And when he weighed more, it bothered him... a lot.

For me... I'd love a man who could pick me up and carry me off into... another room. Hell - even ten feet would be nice!

Almost ex... LMFAOOOOOOOOO

hbrittingham · September 2012

I like the fact that my husband is much bigger than me. It's one of my preferences in a male. He has muscular dystrophy and is still much stronger than I am. I'm perfectly fine with that.