Well, it makes sense when looked at from the point of view that men are behaving instinctually instead of rationally. Man "on autopilot" can be a pretty obnoxious creature, and the more cultivated specimens learn to override that instinct using their brains. Interestingly, the proper use of brains to leverage a situation almost always yields better results than the application of pure brawn, but that sometimes isn't practised.Bri wrote: think the machismo thing comes from the Alpha Male syndrome to compete and win the female. It's just funny that after they've won their female (most men) still do the machismo thing, as in if they don't live their lives by a certain very strict code of their idea of manliness. They're no longer men.
Humans are very complex creatures, so to attribute all (or most) forms of behaviour to instinct is over-simplifying matters, but one can gain some insight by using the comparison as a tool. A closer analogy might be to look at the dynamics that drive a wolf pack: in that situation (which can be used by way of analogy to describe small human societies) there's the dominant (Alpha) male and female -- all the other wolves are in supporting roles, and it's only when it's really apparent that the Alphas are no longer "up to the task at hand" that they're taken down. This is in contrast to humans where our highly competitive nature abhors operating in a "beta" (support) role; humans, however, demand the Alpha slot, even if we're not up to it. And this is where we can fail, and fail spectacularly -- and the costs of that failure are legion.
I don't blame guys that can't climb out of that pit for what's going on; they're behaving in a perfectly predictable (and comfortable, because they have no other frame of reference) manner, even if it is destructive. One can only hope that a gentle nudge in the direction of getting them to use their minds may open the doors to new possibilities.
What's this got to do with blokes wearing skirts? Actually a fair bit. We're pushing the envelope of what's "acceptable" for guys, and since a lot of guys tend to be pretty rigid, this can cause "comfort" problems to the "less enlightened" around us. That our wives/girlfriends/lovers can be highly intolerant points up that they're "competing", too, and demand all assistance possible to hold onto their "Alpha roles". Both situations, once rational thought is applied, look positively ridiculous -- indefensible -- but that's the brain talking, not the biology of aeons.
As far as having to prove one's self constantly, we're back to the wolf-pack analogy; if the Alpha doesn't prove himself "worthy" of that status, one of the other doggies will oust him.