Manhood has two different musical keys.  Many of the same notes, but being played in a different arrangement.Some rough thoughts.

One key of manhood is heroism.” To strive, to seek to find, and never yield.”  These are men putting life and limb on the line in feats of derring do.  These guys win the Medal of Honor.

In the heroic key, women are the ends. Protecting the women is ultimately the point of being a hero.  (Or, for more malign versions of heroism, acquiring women, or acquiring the resources to impress women). Women are also the reward of heroism. A hero’s welcome is a welcome with admiring women.

Fatherhood is the other key of manhood. Fatherhood is men as builders. In the fatherhood key, men do husbandry, make families, found institutions, and govern nations. In this key, men are leaders. The key includes dads and statesmen.. In this key, women are partners & followers.  I am inclined to say that the woman’s role as a partner in this key is indispensable.  “No one can make general without a general’s wife.”

Civilization is cooperative fatherhood. Put differently, civilization is patriarchy.

Especially in the heroic key, manhood may seem redundant or slef-catalyzing. Men fight as heroes only because other men are fighting them. But heroism is not a need that is created by men. In the tragic vision of reality, heroism exists because separation, and therefore opposition, exists.