Male (gender)

The man\* flag by tartersauce.

pronunciation guide

**Male** is a gender within the gender binary. It is often juxtaposed to **female**, or to womanhood or girlhood, which are typically presented as the "opposite" of manhood and boyhood, respectively.

Depending on the context, different words may be used. Adults are commonly referred to as men, whereas children and young adults are more commonly referred to as boys. Adults are rarely referred to as boys, and it is typically considered disrespectful to do so. In contrast, referring to children as men is often considered to be a compliment, as it is viewed as praise of a boy's maturity.[*source?*]

Some people are pleonotic, meaning that they identify with some gendered words, but not all synonyms for that word. A pleonotic man, for example, may not necessarily identify with the words "male" or "boy". A pleonotic boy, similarly, may not necessarily identify with the words "man" or "male".

Men and boys may be cisgender, transgender, or other gender modalities, and are not always assigned male at birth. Additionally, while manhood and boyhood alone fit into the gender binary, it is not always experienced in a binary way; men and boys can be nonbinary. Some men and boys experience additional genders, have only partial connection to manhood or boyhood, experience fluctuations in their gender, and/or are a man or boy only sometimes. Some people may also describe themselves as men (or related terms) as a form of gender expression, without considering those words to be reflective of their gender identity. People may also be man-aligned without necessarily being men or boys.

Men often use he/him pronouns, but this is not always the case. Some men use she/her pronouns, they/them pronouns, it/its pronouns, and/or neopronouns, or no pronouns at all, especially if they are nonbinary and/or gender nonconforming. Men who use these pronouns may or may not also use he/him pronouns.

## Etymology

The word "man" is derived from the Old English *mann*, meaning "person" (without denoting gender or sex). Prior to "man" becoming a gendered term, the term for men was *wer*. The word "boy" is of unknown origin. The word "male" is derived from the Old French *masle*, meaning "man, male."

## Flag

The five stripe man flag was created by Tumblr user Trintin, formerly Trintinic, on December 29, 2017. She created the flag after creating her woman flag. The flag was intended to be explicitly inclusive of all people who self-define partially or fully as men, for any length of time, regardless of birth assignment. The dark blue stripes represent those who identify fully as men, the light blue stripes represent those who identify partially as men, and the white stripe represents multigender people who include manhood in their identity.

The seven stripe man\* flag was created by Tumblr user tartersauce, also known as Enfys or Antonymph, on February 15, 2023. Xe is both a woman and a man, and additionally describes xemself as pangender, genderfluid, and X. An asterisk was used at the end of the word "man" to signal inclusion of all people whose identity includes, or is adjacent to, manhood. This includes nonbinary men, man-aligned people, boys who aren't men, and anyone else who may feel represented by, or included under, the term "man" (or related terms). Xe states that, while xe doesn't see a man flag as very necessary, xe understands why people may like having one:

> We all experience struggles based on our genders, even if those genders are binary. The patriarchy hurts everyone, especially those who are already minorities. Many forms of bigotry (such as homomisia) are inherently intertwined with gender. It makes sense to have pride in your gender, so long as that pride isn't oppressive.
>
> - tartersauce, "Woman\* and Man\* gender flags"

However, xe wasn't fond of the existing flags representing men, which were overwhelmingly blue, including flags that were labeled as "fully inclusive" (potentially referring to Trintin's flag). In response to the existing flags, xe designed a flag which wasn't centered around the color blue.

The stripes of tartersauce's flag, from top to bottom, are magenta, dark orange, gold, yellow, light blue, medium blue, and dark blue. The warm and yellow stripes each have meanings related to manhood, whereas the blue stripes have more broad, metaphorical symbolism. This was done to intentionally subvert the idea that manhood is intrinsically tied to the color blue. The gold stripe was also chosen as the inverse of blue, and represents the redefining of masculinity and manhood. The flag was also designed to look like a rainbow, representing manhood as a spectrum, rather than one specific experience.

Each stripe has its own specific meaning:

* Magenta represents pushing the boundaries of gender.
* Dark orange represents individuality and complexity among men.
* Gold represents the redefining of masculinity and manhood. It is the inverse of blue.
* Yellow represents solidarity and brotherhood between men.
* Light blue represents the vast sky, which is ever-changing, just as all people are.
* Medium blue represents depth, and recognizing that which is not always observed on the surface.
* Dark blue represents water: something all people have inside them, and can’t live without. This symbolizes human solidarity.

There are two versions of the flag: one with a Mars symbol, and one without. In the version with a Mars symbol, the symbol's color is a combination of the top and bottom stripes, and is also outlined with the color of the center stripe. This choice of color isn't stated to represent anything, but may allude to the symbol encompassing all stripe meanings.

## Symbol

The Mars symbol (♂) is commonly used to represent men, boys, masculinity, the male sex, and things related. It is a circle with an arrow extending outwards from the upper right or upper left, depending on location. This has been interpreted as a stylized sword and shield belonging to the god Mars.[*source?*]

## Notes

1. ↑ The terms "man" and "mankind" are sometimes used as gender neutral terms for all of humanity.
2. ↑ tartersauce is referred to with xe/xem pronouns in this article, due to xem specifying that xe uses all pronouns, but prefers neopronouns, alternating pronouns, and mirrored pronouns. Neopronouns are used for consistency.

## References

1. ↑ Gender binary Definition & Meaning. Dictionary.com.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Man Definition & Meaning. Dictionary.com.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Man definition and meaning. Collins English Dictionary.
4. ↑ IMOGA (they/it) (2019-03-16). Pleonotic. Tumblr.
5. ↑ AP (2022-09-22). Pleonotic Pride Flag. Tumblr.
6. ↑ Woman. Cambridge English Dictionary.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Hardell, Ash. *The ABC's of LGBT+*. Mango Media Inc., 2016. ISBN 9781633534087.
8. ↑ Multigender / Polygender (English). The Trans Language Primer.
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Lane, S. Nicole (2021-01-17). What Is Genderqueer?. Verywell Health.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Trans and Intersex Glossary. OULGBTQ+ Society.
11. ↑ Demigender (English). The Trans Language Primer.
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 PFLAG National Glossary of Terms. PFLAG.
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Ferguson, Sian. What Does It Mean to Be Agender?. healthline.
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Genderfluid / Genderflux (English). The Trans Language Primer.
15. ↑ What Does Genderflux Mean? + Other Genderflux Information To Help You Be A Better Ally!. Queer In The World.
16. ↑ genderflux Meaning | Gender & Sexuality. Dictionary.com (2018-11-06).
17. ↑ OptimistMinds (2022-08-30). Agenderflux (What does it mean?). OptimistMinds.
18. ↑ Gender Expansive, Genderqueer, Gender Nonconforming (GE, GI). IT GETS BETTER PROJECT.
19. ↑ Gender alignment. Nonbinary Wiki. Archived from the original on August 10, 2022.
20. ↑ Mod Lune (2018-01-18). we don't care about your binary's post. Archived from the original on October 16, 2021.
21. ↑ Olsen, Billie (she/they). Why Pronouns Don’t Always Equate to Gender. LGBTQ and All.
22. ↑ mann. Wiktionary.
23. ↑ boy | Etymology, origin and meaning. Online Etymology Dictionary (2022-10-23).
24. ↑ male | Etymology, origin and meaning. Online Etymology Dictionary (2022-10-08).
25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 Trintin (2021-07-11). Man Flag. Tumblr.
26. ↑ Trintin (2017-12-29). Man Flag. Tumblr. Archived from the original on July 22, 2018.
27. ↑ Fy (2017-12-31). Woman Flag. Tumblr.
28. ↑ 28.00 28.01 28.02 28.03 28.04 28.05 28.06 28.07 28.08 28.09 28.10 28.11 28.12 28.13 28.14 28.15 tartersauce (2023-02-15). Woman\* and Man\* gender flags. Tumblr.
29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 tartersauce (2023-01-01). About Me. Tumblr.