Basic Trope: A masculine boy or man.
- Straight: Michael loves sports and cars and values his strength.
- Exaggerated: Michael shuns anything feminine, from showing emotions to wearing pink.
- Downplayed: Real Men Wear Pink
- Justified: Michael just tends to prefer "manly" things.
- Inverted: In Touch with His Feminine Side
- Gender Inverted: Girly Girl
- Subverted: Michael belives that Real Men Wear Pink.
- Double Subverted: Mike is ashamed of his feminine side and goes to great pains to hide it.
- Parodied: Michael will scream I Want to Be a Real Man while playing basketball to look as manly as he can.
- Zig Zagged: Michael's interests alternate between "girly" and "boyish".
- Averted:
- Mike is no more manly than the average boy.
- Alternatively, Michael has a gender-neutral personality.
- Enforced: The author wanted to show boys that it's okay to be "manly."
- Lampshaded: "Mike, you would be perfect as an action hero."
- Invoked: Michael is living in a setting with strict gender roles. He acts as "manly" as possible so she'll be accepted by society.
- Exploited: Steven comes to Michael when he needs help with learning how to play football.
- Defied: Michael refuses to have "manly" interests.
- Discussed: Micheal and Steven argue over whether it's true that Real Men Wear Pink.
- Conversed: While watching an old sitcom from The '50s, Nora and Michael debate whether the hero is so masculine because he wants to be or because he felt pressured by society.
- Implied: Michael tends to wear more masculine clothes than other male characters, but his personality is never quite established.
- Deconstructed: Michael's behavior reinforces the idea that all men should be tough and agressive.
- Reconstructed: Michael makes it clear that just because he act masculine doesn't mean all men should do the same.
- Played For Laughs: Michael would choose to do the manliest thing at all times, even when it's wildly impractical. Hilarity Ensues.
- Played For Drama: Michael's decision to pursue manliness as much he can alienates other people.
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