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Lifestyle

01st Jun 2016

British men feel less “manly” than American men, says new study

What does "completely masculine" even mean?

Carl Anka

Do you see yourself as a “manly man”?

A new YouGov survey has been asking men in the US and the UK how masculine they see themselves – and it appears American men see themselves as being more manly.

YouGov Masculinty Survey

Asked to rate themselves out of 6 for “completely masculinity”, 42 per cent of men in the US gave themselves a score in the higher end of the scale, compared with just 28 per cent of men in the UK.

The survey findings were investigated in-depth by the Guardian who discovered a generational divide in men’s feelings towards their manliness.

It appears masculinity is something older men relate to easier. In the UK only 2 per cent of men age 18-24 described themselves as “completely masculine” compared with 56 per cent of the men age 65 and over.

This could be a case of younger men seeing themselves as boys who have to “learn” masculinity, or a case of the new generation not seeing it as such a desirable trait.

Talking to the Guardian, one UK man who took the survey said masculinity is not a fixed concept since it’s “split by class, culture, location and ethnicity, so it’s very difficult to describe just how ‘masculine’ you are.”

Both survey findings, including results on how ‘feminine’ women in the UK and the US believe themselves to be, can be found here and here.

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