Why do men equate being "tough" with being physically strong?

Asked by Hannah at 21 May,2013


Best Answer:

Jesse Pinkman - Then She Is The Darkness at 21 May,2013
Physical strength is certainly *one* aspect of toughness, but only one. There are other aspects about strength, which some in a hyper machismo culture may think of as weakness. I don’t think shooting animals and starting useless fights or participating in MMA makes a person “tough.”

Other Answers:

1. I don't think it's just men who think that. It's a common misconception. There's physically strong and mentally strong.
   
   It depends on the person how mentally strong you are. It stems from how they were raised as a child.
   
   Brain beats brawn. It's the reason we are the dominate species.
   
2. Brawn is all they know, literacy not so much.
   
   TDs, as though most men can tell the difference between physical strength and toughness. Most men think tough means buff. Emotional toughness or intellectual toughness or toughness in it's own right is usually canceled out when men are asked about the meaning of tough.
   
   Why do I even bother, the illiterates never like what they do not understand.
   
3. I don't know man, define tough, whatever.
   
4. Physical strength is certainly *one* aspect of toughness, but only one. There are other aspects about strength, which some in a hyper machismo culture may think of as weakness. I don’t think shooting animals and starting useless fights or participating in MMA makes a person “tough.”
   
5. Men and women define tough based on someones physical strength or ability to endure pain, both physical and emotional. And, for the most part, they are correct. The definition of tough is something strong enough to withstand adverse conditions or rough or careless handling.
   
   Not much to it. So any person who is strong or able to withstand pain is tough. Athletes are seen as tough for precisely the above, they train their bodies to endure pain, be it physical or psychological. It takes a certain kind of mental fortitude to get punched in the face really hard... And not run away or cry...
   
   I've seen plenty of men get hit by a bigger and tougher male and just back off... Because they are not tough enough to compete with them.
   
6. Physical strength is a part of it, just like emotional strength is. And I think you're splitting hairs here. It's very rare for a person to be physically strong without also being emotionally strong.
   
   Now, you might think that it's common for a woman to be emotionally strong without being physically strong, but that's usually because your small, womanly mind has no clue what real emotional strength is. Our society tends to view any woman who puts herself in a stupid situation and suffers the consequences of it to be 'strong' just because she lived to tell the tale. Living with the consequences of our actions is just what men do on a day-to-day basis, and no one gives us a pat on the back for it. Women have a vastly different view of 'emotional strength' than men do, because by men's standards, most women just don't make the cut.
   
7. thats is what tough is, but its also emotionally strong, able to endure.
   
8. Because the two are connected. More testosterone makes you mentally more aggressive and able to take more mental pain. The worlds top chess players are mentally very strong, but as testosterone decreases with age, they become weaker and less competitive. Your brain is a muscle.