Something to think about: gender and insecurity.

Yet another great image of a strong, accomplished woman has resulted in a chorus of "eeww gross" and "she looks masculin" [sic] from the chorus of those-who-believe-the-world-has-a-need-to-know-who-they-are-attracted-to.

Sometimes we see this kind of response to an overweight/obese image. And rarely we see it in response to a drastically underweight image. But mostly, and especially in these forums, the "eww" gross 5th grade reactions are targeted at strong, accomplished women.

This is incredibly misogynist. Throughout the world, there are cultural differences in what is deemed attractive in women. Some cultures value women with a high amount of body fat. Some value women who are particularly skinny. What does not happen in patriarchal societies is a valuing of women who are strong. The more equal women are, the more their strength is appreciated and sought. So there's that. The "eww" response to stong women on MFP is a reflection of how far we really do need to go to value women as they are.

Here's what I really want to say: An "ewww she looks like a man" response says much much more about the speaker than about the target of that statement.

Expressions of gender vary among individuals. Men in America must expect people to question their masculinity AND their sexual orientation (which are two separate things) if they choose to become florists or hair dressers. Women are questioned about their femininity if they say "****" in some circles, or if they drive Subarus in some places. Or if they express an interest in tools and cars and weight lifting. This is because the expected expression of masculinity does not involve decoration and pretty things and the expected expression of femininity involves speaking "sweetly" and does not allow for self-determination and self-reliance.

But lets be serious, no one strictly follows the extremes of the expected gender expression for their gender. That's because we know that even if that guy is wearing a pink shirt, he's still a guy. His masculinity is secure enough something as small as a pink shirt doesn't negate it.

This is why male to female transgendered women are so vulnerable to some particularly sick violence from strangers. The existence of a person who had a penis but now looks like a woman becomes threatening to the acknowledged masculinity of the insecure *kitten* men that are violent against her. So they are violent to prove something.

So on these boards, when a beautiful, strong, muscular woman is denigrated as mannish by a man, you have an idea of what I think of that man and the several indicators of his manhood or lack there of (yes, including that). I feel pretty comfortable with the similar assumptions I make about women who criticize other women for being strong and accomplished.

That is all.