A man is a human being whose biological sex is male.
A man is a member of the human species whose sex is male . In this way, the concept is usually used as a synonym for man .
For example: "Last night I saw three men hanging around the house" , "We will do the following: the men will play volleyball in that part of the patio, while the women will be able to play soccer right here" , "I have a boy and two girls, and they get along quite well .
Although in some contexts male and man are synonyms, both terms can be used in different ways. Man, sometimes, refers to the human being in general ( "Man should take care of the environment" ) or to the adult male. On the other hand, if we refer to the man, we could also be naming a child ( "I have two children: the boy is 4 years old and the girl is 8" ).
The male according to biology
Regarding biological characteristics, the male has testicles and a penis and produces sperm (the male gamete). In a sexual relationship, the man expels semen , a fluid that contains sperm that can fertilize the woman 's egg . The expulsion of semen is called ejaculation .
Regarding the secondary sexual characteristics of men, it can be mentioned that their height usually exceeds that of women. He also has thicker skin, more hair on his body and a bulkier build. Men's voices, on the other hand, tend to be deeper than women's.
Sometimes male is used as a synonym for man.
Missing features
It is important to note that all of the characteristics just mentioned can be missing in a male, without this representing a health or development problem. Very often we find men who are short in stature, with little hair on their bodies or with very high voices, more so than those of the women around them.
Hairless men are those who do not have visible body hair, and this is common to millions of people due to race, so it has no relationship with health . Although the origin of this term is uncertain, there is the word glabrous , an adjective used to refer to parts of the body that do not have hair on the outside.
Within the field of music, several types of high male voices are recognized, which reach the tessitura of the female strings (contralto, mezzo-soprano and soprano). There are various terms to designate them, such as countertenor and sopranist, although the latter is usually the one that refers to the voice of a man that is naturally at the same height as that of a woman.
The term man and machismo
In some Spanish-speaking regions it is common to use the term man to address a man of any age ; for example «But man, what did you do?! "Man, come here, we have a lot of work ahead of us!" .
On the other hand, there are those who associate this way of speaking with machismo , or with an unnecessary habit of distinguishing between men and women when having a conversation. If we take the case of transsexuals, who are born with the opposite sex to which they feel they belong, being called male simply because of their physical appearance is not what they want to hear, since it does not represent them .
Other meanings of the concept
In nautical science, on the other hand, the chains that link the rudder blade to the sides of the boat are known as chains. This allows the boat to be steered if the rudder head is damaged.
There is also the term baron , with which male is often confused from an orthographic point of view, since the only difference between the two is their first letter. Regarding its meaning, a baron is a noble person who in countries like Spain is directly below the viscount. It can also refer to someone with a lot of power in a company, a political party or an institution.