Not Alone Series: Masculinity

Who is a great example of masculinity in your life (father, brother, uncle, priest, etc)? 

What is it about them that you love?

Ahhhhhh men.

See what I did there? :)

I've written about an aspect of masculinity before - chivalry - and since I can't seem to get chivalry off of my mind, I suppose this is what I've focusing on again this week.

Now that I'm more attuned to noticing chivalry around me, I appreciate it much more than I did when I was younger. As an angsty teenager, I would roll my eyes when my dad would let each of us go before him in line for communion at mass. I would resent him "taking" my prime realty spot on the end of the pew - perfect for people watching, amiright?

But now, when I go home for the weekend and my dad lets me go in front of him, I have to smile because I know that this is his silent way of loving us.

Hmmmm what other things have I appreciated recently?? OH!

In that post I linked to above, I'll link to it here again, I mentioned a time recently when gentleman helped me with my coat. Oh my gosh. I don't know what it is....but that just makes me feel like a lady.

Like he was nonverbally saying, "oh here, I care enough about you to make sure you stay warm"

Ok, that sounds dumb now that I wrote it out...but does anyone know what I mean?

I am a huge advocate for ladies being ladies and men being men.

There are people who would take this the wrong way and argue "AH! You mean to say that women cannot do everything that a man can do! How sexist!"

Mmmmm no. Not at all.

But what's wrong with ladies being treated like ladies? What's wrong with men stepping up like a man ought?

Here's another example:

I've had the enormous blessing to get to know a number of lovely people here in town lately. I cannot tell you how comforting it is to belong to a community once again. (but that's another post) As a result of this community-building, a few of us decided to attend our parish's trivia night this weekend. It was SO much fun.

My parish's trivia night is more rowdy than most college bars #forreal #lotsofliquor
— Morgan McFarlin (@thatprolifegirl) February 23, 2014

And it was set up as a pot-luck of sorts...soda and desserts were provided, but we were encouraged to share dinner as a table. Well, we had a number of group emails where we couldn't decide how to divvy up dinner responsibilities and finally, two of the men spoke up (wrote up?) and volunteered their cooking expertise. This might not seem all that incredible, but these guys brought homemade country style ribs (SO DELICIOUS) and homemade Chicago style deep-dish pizza (a real treat for us transplanted from the north).

I don't know, I guess I'm so used to the women always being the ones who step up and say "oh, I'll host" or "oh, I'll cook the meal" or "oh, don't worry about it, we'll take care of everything"...it was refreshing for a couple of men to take that role!

Aaaand that's pretty much all I've got! This post wasn't really what I'd anticipated writing, but we want to hear what you think! What are examples of masculinity that you've experienced through men in your life?

Write a post and link it up below!

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Next week's topic:

Bachelorette parties!

It's inevitable that we'll attend or plan a friend's Bachelorette party at some point or another, but how do we make them fun without all the raunch? Give us your ideas for fun things to do with a bridal party without all the crazy!

March 11th: Why not both?

We've been hearing a lot that "married people and single people can't relate to one another". What is your perspective on this? In what ways can we bridge the gap between singles and marrieds?

March 18th: Single life bucket list

What are those things that you want to do before you get married (or enter the religious life)? Is there anything that you're excited to do, accomplish, etc. before engagement, marriage, and babies come along? Even if you feel that you've done everything you wanted to do pre-marriage, dig deeper and see if there isn't anything else you'd like to do!

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As always, please email us any topic suggestions you have! Jen and I want to be talking about things that are a part of your life! Help us plan the next topic schedule! :)