My dads a 'mans, man' proper country type, his brothers served in the army etc and I was brought up with a lot of ideas about what it means to be a man. My first job I worked as an apprentice for two years in a garage, in an entirely 'mans' world. I played sports at school, got into fights went out drinking with my mates. I'd be surprised if my family background was all that different (I'm from poor, working class and proud background - half my family are gypsies). I just got on well with female friends, and listened to them, and some of their experiences made me realise that machismo is a load of bollocks.

Mmmmmm.....what is your relationship with your father like? How did he regard you and you him?

Hang on...scrub that...I'm not an analyst....none of my business.

'Machismo' is a load of bollocks to you.

To me, machismo is machismo...it's a exaggeration of most masculinity....some have a lot of it, some a little, which I find a positive, some pretend they have it and some don't, some dislike it, some hate it......Masculinity is much more than an alpha male stereotype....machismo is an exaggerated form most of the time.

Edited by Stirlingsays (08 Dec 2017 2.52pm)

At an extreme end that sounds like narcissistic personality disorder. A trait more common in males.

- An inflated sense of their own importance
- A deep need for excessive attention and admiration
- A lack of empathy for others.

Most people are reasonable human beings really. People generally like to be liked and for society to function along those lines, people typically develop in ways that allow them to rub along.