20 Obvious Signs That A Man Is Insecure About Himself Or His Masculinity

Toxic masculinity comes in many shapes and sizes - and many of us are so used to experiencing it since a young age, we hardly even notice it. But ignoring a problem doesn't make it go away - and the sooner we acknowledge it, the sooner we can make it a thing of the past. However, in order to do that, many of us need to recognize what toxic masculinity actually is - and lucky for us, Reddit is here to help. One Reddit user recently asked others to share “What is a tell-tale sign that a man is insecure about his masculinity or himself in general?”, and received quite a few responses that will give you a better understanding of what toxic masculinity actually is. See some of the most accurate answers in the gallery below!

#1

Image source:  Error-29 Homophobia

#2

Image source: jhope71 If he claims to be an “alpha male” - dude, if you have to tell people (loudly and often) that you’re alpha, you are definitely not

#3

Image source:  w1987g His view on what makes a man a man is narrow. In his mind, there are only 2-3 types of men and other types are wrong

#4

Image source:  TheBookOfSeil Trying to dominate a conversation or activity for no reason/Being needlessly competitive

#5

Image source:  The_Obi-Wan Constant attempts to "one-up" anything and anyone at anytime.

#6

Image source: Darth_Xenic When he doesn’t let his girlfriend/wife wear sexy outfits in public

#7

Image source: J8766557 Trying to crush your hand when they shake it. Usually accompanied by fixing you with what they think is an intimidating stare.

#8

Image source: idc55342 Any guy who thinks the words alfa and beta mean anything in a social group

#9

Image source: Beccaaaaaalolz Always fighting to be right no matter what, even if someone obviously knows what they are talking about.

#10

Image source: Tundur Worrying about face and honour and fighting over it. I've never been in a fight. 99% of my friends have never been in a fight. None of my colleagues have ever been in a fight. Yet... you come across these f**wits who seem to think that it's normal. Quite often they complain about it. "Aw I can barely leave my house without someone starting sh*t". In every single scenario, it is them who is the problem

#11

Image source:  FaberGrad creates a nickname for himself

#12

Image source: Vega3gx When he's not supportive of the other men in his life. A truly masculine man loves and supports his brothers and celebrates their achievement An insecure man brings others down to prove he's on "top"

#13

Image source: TurtleChickenFart When someone gets upset over something as silly as the way another man enjoys his comfortable clothing, takes care of their body, or the way they like their vehicles.

#14

Image source: Mello-Knight My friend introduced me to a potential love interest of hers one evening. The conversation turned to what I look for in a guy and I said I like guys who own cats. The dude immediately cut me off and said ‘I’m sorry, there’s nothing wrong with a woman who owns a cat, but there’s something wrong with a guy who does.’ The next day my friend asked me what I thought of him and I told her he’s insecure

#15

Image source: Nickolai808 The worst are guys who use hashtags on instagram like #realman, #realmen, #realmenhavebeards, #manly, #man, #men, #alphamale, #intelligent, #smart, etc. I'm like dude, I've never seen a confident masculine man ever once use [things[ like that. If you have to tell the world you're a "real man", or how "intelligent" or "alpha", you are... you aren't. hahaha

#16

Image source: bayswimmer23 Pretending to know something about a subject they don’t understand.

#17

Image source: eleazar1997 When i was in the army we would definitely see people who were bullied in high school and decided to be "billy badass" and join the military then they would be teased and hazed a little as privates. But as soon as they got their own little team and a taste of power they would be the ones that made everyone's lives much more miserable than they needed to be reveling in being the tormenter.

#18

Image source: weasel999 Insecure about himself: he’s middle age but constantly shares photos of himself in his “prime” such as football team, military uniform etc

#19

Image source: DevilOuttaSpace Aggression and violence. Many insecure men use tactics of intimidation or just plain old violence because they feel attacked by everything, cant discuss like a normal grown up, feel like it proves they are a "real man" etc.

#20

Image source:  vidrenz Guys who brag about how much sex they have. Ok we get it, you have sex