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Virility refers to any of a wide range of masculine
Masculinity

Masculinity is manly character. It specifically describes men and boys , that is personal and human, unlike male which can also be used to describe animals, or masculine which can also be used to describe noun classes....
 characteristics viewed positively. It is not applicable to women
Woman

File:Duval La Naissance de Venus.jpgA woman is a female human. The term woman is usually reserved for an adult, with the term girl being the usual term for a female child or adolescent....
 or to negative characteristics. The Oxford English Dictionary
Oxford English Dictionary

The Oxford English Dictionary , published by the Oxford University Press , is a comprehensive dictionary of the English language. Two fully-bound print editions of the OED have been published under its current name, in 1928 and 1989; as of December 2008 the dictionary's current editors have completed a quarter of the third edition....
 (OED1) says virile is "marked by strength or force." Virility is commonly associated with vigour, health
Health

In 1948, the World Health Organisation defined health as ?a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.? ...
, sturdiness, and constitution, especially in the fathering of children. In this last sense, virility is to men as fertility is to women. OED1 also notes an obsolete use of virile in this sense for a "nubile" young woman — "a maide that is Mariageable or ripe for a Husband, or Virill."

The word itself is derived from the Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 word vir meaning simply "man" (in a gender specific sense).






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Virility refers to any of a wide range of masculine
Masculinity

Masculinity is manly character. It specifically describes men and boys , that is personal and human, unlike male which can also be used to describe animals, or masculine which can also be used to describe noun classes....
 characteristics viewed positively. It is not applicable to women
Woman

File:Duval La Naissance de Venus.jpgA woman is a female human. The term woman is usually reserved for an adult, with the term girl being the usual term for a female child or adolescent....
 or to negative characteristics. The Oxford English Dictionary
Oxford English Dictionary

The Oxford English Dictionary , published by the Oxford University Press , is a comprehensive dictionary of the English language. Two fully-bound print editions of the OED have been published under its current name, in 1928 and 1989; as of December 2008 the dictionary's current editors have completed a quarter of the third edition....
 (OED1) says virile is "marked by strength or force." Virility is commonly associated with vigour, health
Health

In 1948, the World Health Organisation defined health as ?a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.? ...
, sturdiness, and constitution, especially in the fathering of children. In this last sense, virility is to men as fertility is to women. OED1 also notes an obsolete use of virile in this sense for a "nubile" young woman — "a maide that is Mariageable or ripe for a Husband, or Virill."

The word itself is derived from the Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 word vir meaning simply "man" (in a gender specific sense). The German for "virility" is Manneskraft — the strength of a man. Historically, masculine attributes such as beard growth have been seen as signs of virility and leadership (for example in ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an Ancient history civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile in what is now the modern nation of Egypt....
 and Rome
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
).

As a term for positive reference, virility does not accord with feminism
Feminism

Feminism is the belief that women should have equal political, social, sexual, intellectual and economic rights to men. It involves various movements, Theory, and philosophies, all concerned with issues of gender difference, that advocate equality for women and that campaign for women's rights and interests....
s that put forward various deconstruction
Deconstruction

Deconstruction is a term used in philosophy, literary criticism, and the social sciences, popularised through its usage by Jacques Derrida in the 1960s....
s of masculinity. According to these points of view, virility is redefined as an outdated abstraction, impacting negatively on women via unwanted sexual activity, and unwanted pregnancies
Pregnancy

Pregnancy is the carrying of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, inside the uterus of a female. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or Multiple birth....
.

See also

  • Muliebrity
    Muliebrity

    Muliebrity is the quality of being a woman. This word is sometimes used as a counterpart to virility, in an analogy with the counterparts of "Femininity" and "masculinity"....
  • Man cave
    Man cave

    A man cave is a male sanctuary, such as a specially equipped garage, spare bedroom, media room, den, or basement....


Further reading