"The stronger a man is, the more gentle he can afford to be."
— Elbert Hubbard
For some reason, gritty loners,
hulking brutes, and all around uber-manly characters tend to gravitate towards at least one decidedly un-manly interest or hobby. Usually, it involves
baking,
sewing, or
the color pink. While oftentimes this hobby is
kept under wraps alongside the
Embarrassing Middle Name, Mr. Badass quite often shamelessly enjoys it. Even more often, it's just
one of those things you never bothered to ask about. Plus, apparently he was never instilled with the
Pink Girl, Blue Boy archetype when he was growing up. Or maybe he was, and couldn't be bothered with it anyway. It's a safe assumption that
he cares very deeply for his mother.
Arguably the basis is that someone who's
self-evidently "masculine" doesn't need to demonstrate his masculinity in the stereotypical ways. (Even if by
wall-punching steel and
Death Glaring, he kinda
is demonstrating it in the stereotypical ways.
Try not to think too hard about that.) An alternative explanation for this behavior is if the Manly Man sees something as manly then it
will become manly as he himself
is the definition of manly, kind of like how celebrities tend to change fashion in
Real Life. Sometimes there is a
Double Standard at work: while cooking in the home may be seen as traditionally women's work,
only MEN are great chefs (seriously, look it up - compare
Chef of Iron while you're at it). And then some men just like to use this as a practical reason to start fights. Or enjoy the fact that no one will dare to mock him. (Would you?)
On the color pink, it should be noted that as late as the 1950's, it was still considered a "boy" colour. Pink was seen as a shade of red, which relates to manly concepts like blood and war. Blue was associated with the Virgin Mary and was seen as a more serene colour reserved for girls (in fact, the traditional colour for wedding dresses used to be
blue before Queen Victoria popularized the white dress; all that remained of that is the line calling for "something blue"
in the rhyme).
Early in WWI, the French Army uniform included bright pink trousers. This was changed when the leaders realized it made them easy targets.
This trope doesn't work on extremely feminine looking
Bishōnen or
Gender Benders, as it's about MANLY MEN. If a character has enough girlish traits or hobbies that it starts to compromise his manliness, especially if they have an effeminate appearance, then the character may be
In Touch With His Feminine Side. If he looks manly but never acts it he's just a
Gentle Giant.
A primary character trait of the
Cultured Badass and the
House Husband.
Compare
Less Embarrassing Term,
Princesses Prefer Pink,
Emotional Bruiser,
Real Men Love Jesus,
Agent Peacock,
Gay Bravado,
Purple Is Powerful (when people think just
Graceful Ladies Like Purple).
Contrast
Testosterone Poisoning,
Real Women Never Wear Dresses,
Sissy Villain,
Pink Is For Sissies,
Tomboy With A Girly Streak.
If someone has these sort of characteristics, but is trying to hide them, then they may have an
Unmanly Secret.
Examples
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Advertising
- Toyota Racing did a "Sponsafy Your Car
" contest that asked fans to go the Toyota Racing website and design their own paint scheme. In the commercial, a young girl named “Kimmy” designs a pink racecar for NASCAR star Kyle Busch. "Who doesn’t like kittens, bunnies and little baby seals?" Fiction has now become fact. He actually drove the pink car from the commercial in the 2010 NASCAR season.
- In New Zealand in the early 2000s, Tararua Milk ran adverts featuring a 'macho-looking bloke' describing himself engaging in decidedly un-manly activities: "I wear a pink shirt, but not at the rugby... I'll ask for directions, but only if I have to!"
- Oddly enough, "Real Men wear Pink" is a promotional tagline for Joop! cologne.
- There is a lassic TV commercial for the "real" Yellow Pages that used the slogan, "Get Connected With the Real Yellow Pages." The ad featured a huge, bearded, brutal-looking, tattoo-encrusted Hell's Angel who is upset because he simply is not getting what he needs hanging out with the guys drinking beer. So he consults the yellow pages. A moment later, we see the biker all smiles and sunshine, surrounded by gray-haired old ladies, happily a part of their quilting circle.
Fan Works
- In The World in Black and White Ichigo is like this. How manly is he? He is a Vasto Lorde class hollow and it is greatly implied that he is the one doing the household chores and cooking while not gallivanting around Hueco Mundo.
- Gabriel Blessing's brilliantly done The Hill of Swords is a Fate/stay night and Zero No Tsukaima crossover that has FSN's Emiya Shirou gain a reputation for being murderously competent on the battlefield... and enjoying washing dishes, clothes, and cooking. Those who know of his reputation usually have to fight their way past a BSOD moment the first time they encounter him humming along while performing such tasks.
- Ryan Lee from Futari Wa Pretty Cure Dragon is a tough-as-nails martial artist who will go to any lengths to protect his friends. He also attends a girls' school, wears ballet shoes with his school uniform, and has been studying aikido, which is a graceful and dance-like martial art, for years prior to the story. He even wears pink in numerous episodes (not counting the pink skirt he wears with his school uniform), including a couple of episodes where he wears a leotard.
- There is a Pokémon ROM-hack called "Manly Pink Version". Its mascot is Audino.
Mythology
- Surprisingly, this trope is Older Than Feudalism, at least. As punishment for killing somebody, Genius Bruiser Hercules is forced into slavery to Queen Omphale for a year, who forces him to wear women's clothing◊ and help with the weaving, while she wears his lion pelt and waves his club around. He doesn't complain too much, because, honestly, who's going to make fun of Hercules for wearing pink?
- He ain't the only one, either. Achilles spent a good part of his life Disguised in Drag per orders of his overprotective and worried mother, who wanted to keep him from dying in the war. Odysseus unmasked him by disguising himself as a vendor and exhibiting swords and jewelry to the local girls — Achilles was the only one in the crowd who chose the weapons.
- Dionysus is the god of wine. He parties all the time and dresses like a woman (how can you tell if they all wore robes? It was the color). Oh, and if you fail to show him the proper reverence he'll have his minions (drunk, horny women) tear you to shreds and eat you.
Newspaper Comics
- Played with in Pickles: Nelson wishes he owned a unicorn, and his grandparents question his burgeoning sexuality. It turns he made the wish "because it has a sharp horn and kills things."
Tabletop Games
- Exalted's Malfeas; fallen king of the Yozi, font of unending and eternal rage, and lord of the dance. When lesser beings channel Malfeas' powers, they must be used for destructive, ruinous, needlessly brutal, overwhelming, intimidating, terrifying and cruel (and so on) purposes — and for playing music and dancing. His powers do not work for any other purposes. Ligier, his core aspect, is embarrassed about the fact that Malfeas likes dancing.
- The Brujah in Vampire The Masquerade are the most aggressive and militant of all vampire clans. The Brujah antitribu are an offshoot working for the brutal, inhuman Sabbat. As shock troops. Guess what color the Brujah antitribu use in their clothing as a sign of clan affiliation? PURPLE.
- Warhammer 40000 uses this frequently:
- The Emperor's Children are sadistic, evil, merciless, traitorous junkie rapists. They also wear hot pink armour and have a thing for velvet.
- The Dark Eldar are even worse than the Emperor's Children... and they wear a lot of purple and take pride from how classy and cultured they are.
- The regular Eldar are nearly as bad, and they're even more cultured and classy than their Slaaneshi kin.
- The Blood Angels Space Marine chapter have a strong appreciation for things like art, poetry, and music, when they are not on the battlefield.
Theatre
- In The Rose Tattoo, Estelle Hohengarten orders Serafina to make a man's shirt out of a piece of rose-colored silk. When Serafina objects that it's not a man's color, Estelle tells her, "This man is wild like a Gypsy." Serafina later discovers to her outrage that Estelle's man was her late husband.
Web Animation
- Homestar Runner:
- Strong Bad enjoys bubble baths and baking. And owns a pink shower cap with a cherry-red heart print. In his case, however, it's more proof of how he fails to be as cool as he thinks he is.
- His big brother Strong Mad. 7 feet tall? Check. 100,000 pounds of muscle? Check. Ability to lift A.T.M.s, chomp computers, and bash your face in? Check to the third power squared. Purple singlet??? Check mate.
- In the Lady Lumps VS Boy Bumps video Metro City, Mike Haggar's clothes are burnt off in a car accident, so he makes a skirt out of the fire like any real man would.
