Manly Things

[VMan]

Lets get a list going of manly things - that is to say, something that makes you feel happy to be a man. I'm not talking about buying big guns, or driving big SUVs.

- Backing into a parking spot instead of just pulling in
- Parallel parking a U-Haul or other large box truck

 

[matadorpoeta]

i few days a go i drove a long, giant van that was longer than anything i'd ever driven before. i parallel parked it in a space that was just big enough for it and thought to myself, "i'm the man."

i think doing anything that's new and difficult, but in a way that looks like you've done it many times before, is manly.

 

[globetrotter]

I had a friend who was a helicopter pilot. apperetnly, a lot of the coordination that helicopter pilots develop is very similar to what you need in parallel parking, he could parallel park like nobody you have ever seen - he cold park in a spot that was 3 or 4 inches longer than his car, in one neat try.

but yeah, doing something hard in a way that looks easy - that is part of being a man.

 

[Arethusa]

I like making sweeping generalizations about gender that are no more than internalized cultural and societal constructs.

I also like knowing how to drive. Girls can't seem to figure that **** out.

 

[Edward Appleby]

Originally Posted by Arethusa

no more than internalized cultural and societal constructs.
I would argue that there isn't much more to human identity.

At any rate, I always feel satisfied in some primal way when a girls asks me lift/pull/open something.

What else... watching a couple of guys beat the **** out of each other in a movie. Drying my hands on my pants. Working while wearing short sleeves and gloves. Climbing ****. Having a spontaneous sword/lightsaber fight with whatever implement's handy. The smell of smoke on a shirt that you wear a couple days in a row on a ranch trip. Fixing things around the house. Wearing a tie.

 

[Oddly Familiar]

I like changing lanes and driving fast. That makes me feel manly. Talking about the golf tourney sunday makes me feel manly. Playing golf makes me feel manly. I'll agree that backing into a spot in an overly crowded parking lot makes me feel cocky yet manly at the same time. I like smoking and driving fast. Being a good big brother and letting the younger sibling pull into the drive way made me feel not necessarily manly, but good on the inside. Like I'm doing something right. Cooking my own food makes me feel manly, so does dr pepper. Boys night makes me feel manly. Gory movies, classic video games and brushing my teeth in the shower make me feel manly, too. But the biggest of all is taking a piss standing up. That's right. I am a man. Hear me roar.

 

[Edward Appleby]

That reminds me of a couple: Pissing on a tree, cooking a burger when I'm home alone, going to the hardware store.

 

[Tokyo Slim]

I drive a dump truck. That makes me feel pretty manly sometimes. Especially when I'm smoking and wearing a hard hat while driving the dump truck. I used to drive a forklift, also pretty damn manly.

 

[skalogre]

Pulling the bumper off the car in 6 minutes (without breaking it) to change out a broken section. Walking around with a spanner, a multitool, about 8 screws and and a socket wrench in my trouser pockets. Getting my self all-grimey and covered with filth from the parking area and old oil while doing that.
Uhm, I better stop there because the rest does not help my "manliness" case...

(Ok, here is why I would fail at any attempt at being/looking like a "manly-man"; was wearing PDC 2-GTO bootcut low-rise slim-fitting corduroys with distressed cordovan Dr. Maerten's oxfords and one of Elizabeth's Paul Mitchell hair-product t-shirts she got from work - oh and last time I did this so I could install a mesh grille to protect the radiator I was drinking a beer...a Kaliber N/A beer

)

My wife naturally made fun of me. Hairstylist's husband - et.c.

P.s. the multitool was wood-trimmed, sort of oak/teak stained with brass-accents. Not too manly either, LMAO!

 

[SGladwell]

Originally Posted by VersaceMan

- Backing into a parking spot instead of just pulling in

I can't see that as manly. The best parallel parker (and best overall judge of extremely close distances in an automobile) I've ever known was a woman. A French woman!

 

[skalogre]

Originally Posted by Tokyo Slim

I drive a dump truck. That makes me feel pretty manly sometimes. Especially when I'm smoking and wearing a hard hat while driving the dump truck. I used to drive a forklift, also pretty damn manly.
Damn, we have a winner. P.s. I always had a fascination with earth moving equipment and suchlike. My dad would bring me JCB, Grove, Iveco, Scania et.c. sales brochures from the equipment dealer next door to his work when I was little

 

[Huntsman]

Vman, did you originate a similar thread once before? The last time around I was too serious and dull. This time, only a little serious and dull.

• Wearing a three piece.
• Being gallant --especially as it's something, by definition, that women cannot do.
• Disassembling large segments of internal combustion engines, reassembling same, and hearing engine sounds when you turn the key. Good moment, that. Perches precisely on the bring of feeling decidedly unmanly, though.
• Having no compunction whatever about 'some assembly required' or leaky drains, or installing appliances and electrical fixtures.
• Being the guy people (both women and men) go to when something needs to be done.
• Breaking boulders with a 15- or 25-lb sledge (a hobby of mine).
• Leather bombers.
• Ploughing the earth with a tractor.
• Working in a shop, on lathes, grinders and Bridgeports, sleeves rolled up, smelling of cutting fluid and/or coolant
• Barn raising.
• With apologies to VMan, but winning a shooting competition amongst other men.
• Not being too much of an idiot.

Regards, Huntsman ps. I've always wanted to drive a dump truck; a haul truck especially...

 

[Huntsman]

Originally Posted by globetrotter

I had a friend who was a helicopter pilot. apperetnly, a lot of the coordination that helicopter pilots develop is very similar to what you need in parallel parking, he could parallel park like nobody you have ever seen - he cold park in a spot that was 3 or 4 inches longer than his car, in one neat try.

but yeah, doing something hard in a way that looks easy - that is part of being a man.

This is very neat.

Also flying helicopters would so seriously make this list. I remember watching Harrison Ford on Leno -- he had a chopper, and Leno pressed him about it, and apparently he'd broken it. Down a notch in manliness right there. Plus that earring!

Regards,
Huntsman

 

[VMan]

Originally Posted by Huntsman

[*]With apologies to VMan, but winning a shooting competition amongst other men.

No that's totally cool - I'd consider target shooting pretty manly. I was talking more about buying a .50 Desert Eagle just to show off, or make up for lack-of-manliness.

 

[j]

Fixing things with only the stuff you have on hand, with bonus points for not consulting any printed material to fix it. For example, diagnosing an idling problem with my old E30 BMW and tracing it to a vacuum line, then melting a hole in a plastic disk cut from a bottlecap and putting it inside the fitting to restrict the flow and fix the problem for free. F'n A.

Lighting cigarettes with a blowtorch. (A common practice on my manly balcony, though I rarely partake. Nothing beats MAPP gas and an instant-on burner head for reliability and all weather use.)

Being the guy people (both women and men) go to when something needs to be done.

Resourcefulness, MacGyvering stuff, independence etc. is my main category here.