Football (sports fandom in general) is one of the few spaces where manly men have a safe space to express all their emotions in a supportive group setting: anger, hate, joy, sadness, love, enthusiasm, and so on.
Men are often sanctioned by women when they show weakness. So this is a very important psychological, social, and therapeutic space for men. It’s an outlet for suppressed emotions, which is healthy.
You might think it’s silly, but it’s a good and healthy institution and custom.
Men are often sanctioned by women when they show weakness.
I’m a man. It is extremely rare for me to experience this firsthand. I can count on one hand how many times in my entire life, and its been decades since the most recent time. Even then it wasn’t criticism from a woman was close to me.
It’s usually pretty subtle. People will quietly lose respect for you and shut you out over time, or just gossip about you behind your back.
That being said, I dont give a shit about people’s perception of my manliness or sexuality. I’m straight, trained in martial arts and boxing, own guns and know how to use them, can fix things around the house decently well, moderately know my way around car repairs. But I’ll be sensitive and open with my feelings if I want to, which is frequent. I cry at weddings, funerals, sad movies, and even when I think about how lucky I am to have my wife. I joke about kissing the homes goodnight, and flirt back with gay dudes that hit on me (without leading them on).
I’m often DISAPPOINTED in people for how they react and judge sometimes, but always happier when those people remove themselves from my life. I don’t fawn after the approval of random assholes, be they male or female, and I never let it affect who I am. That’s what manliness actually is about: self actualization.
