The Ideals Of Gender

First, Before I start to explain what this is about, I would like to apologize in advance if a thread like this already exists. I searched for a title but couldn't find anything that tackled this subject.

Feminity. Masculinity. Are these ideals to strive for or simply a stereotype? Should these ideals be fostered and encouraged? Or do they simply pigeon-hole somebody into acting out a role whilst keeping their real self in the closet?

Personally I am of the opinion that masculinity and feminity is moot. That all it does is hamper your personal growth in order to fit society and their expectations of how you behave.

Let me bring up the attributes that masculinity tends to take to the forefront: Bravery, taking action and having a fit body. Not to be too eager to show emotions.

The above is perhaps not the most accurate portrayal of masculinity, seeing as it varies from country to country, culture to culture. But these seem to be wide-spread as far as I am aware.

Now onto feminity: Beauty, passiveness/submissiveness and motherhood. Long hair and all that.

While these are rough sketches of respective social expectation, I think it could do well as a starting point. Feel free to add in anything, as I am aware that it is extremely rough and simplified.

But bear with me, if you can. Now then:

It seems to me by having skimmed through the various pages of masculinity and feminity that is on the internet and the library, that there is often this idea that men act, women are. Now, I realize that this trope already exists, but I feel that it could be an interesting topic to talk about.

To start with: Do these things have any value? Why should we shape our attitudes and personalities based on what kind of junk we have between our legs? If the core of masculinity is to be courageous, strong and independent, shouldn't these values be taught to everyone? Why are these things considered to be manly?

I myself have never really been able to wrap my head around this. If a woman is out hunting or fishing, instead of being at home, is she acting like a man or is she simply being herself?

Now to flip it: If a man likes to sew, read and play with the kids instead of hunting or other such activities, is he being feminine or simply being who he is?

Instead of calling these attributes manly or feminine, shouldn't we instead call these positive attributes unto a person?

Instead of a man shouldn't hit a woman, shouldn't it be a person shouldn't hit another person?

... I think I will stop there. Again, if a similiar thread is already open, I apologize in advance. Whereas I will just proceed to copy-paste it into that thread instead. Heh.

We've talked about this a bit and we already have various gender issues threads. This one is redundant. Just look around OTC and pick one that suits you. Also, I have a feeling that talking about "ideal" anything is a rabbit hole that leads nowhere.