Man

This article concerns how a man differs from women. For other meanings of man see Man (disambiguation).

*Image of Man on the Pioneer plaque sent to outer space*

A man is an adult male human, as contrasted to an adult female, which is a woman. The term man (irregular plural: men) is used to indicate biological sex distinctions, cultural gender role distinctions, or both.

Manhood is the period in a male's life after he has transitioned from a boy.

Sex

In terms of sex, men have various sexual characteristics that differentiate them from women. In men, the sex organs are involved in the reproductive system, whereas the secondary sex characteristics are involved in attracting a mate or in defeating rivals. Men have mainly external sex organs. The study of male reproduction and associated organs is called andrology.

In general, men suffer from the same illnesses as women, however there are some sex-related illnesses that occur only or more frequently in men.

Biological factors are usually not the sole determinants of whether a person considers themselves as man or is considered a man or not, for example, it is estimated that one in 100,000 people are men who have been born without a typical male physiology (that is, they are transgendered or transsexual men), or some men can have an abnormal hormone or chromosomal difference (such as androgen insensitivity syndrome), or another intersex condition; some of those intersex people who have had a female sex assigned at birth sought to reassign their sex later in their lives (or vice versa). (See also gender identity, gender role and transman).

Gender roles

In terms of gender, men differ from women by a variety of behaviours.

Men, considered as a group, are often considered to be more aggressive than women. However, in interpersonal relationships, most research has found that men and women are equally aggressive. Men do tend to be more aggressive outside of the home.
In modern western society, few wear cosmetics or clothing generally associated with female gender roles. (Doing so is known as cross-dressing, and is generally stigmatised.)