Manila – Softness and Strength (Part IV: Faces of Masculinity)

If there’s one thing that keeps surprising me about Manila, it’s how comfortably the city holds contradictions, noise and stillness, chaos and calm, toughness and tenderness.And nowhere is that balance more visible than in the people themselves.

The beauty of being both

In the Philippines, masculinity looks different.Men laugh freely, hug their friends, sing love songs in public.They take care with how they look, hair perfectly styled, eyebrows shaped, a trace of perfume that lingers in the humid air.

You see young boys in pastel shirts, men with soft gestures and kind eyes, and no one stares.No one mocks. Here, this fluidity feels normal, even celebrated.

They are not necessarily gay, nor transgender.They are simply expressive, unafraid to show grace, emotion, or beauty.And in this culture, that isn’t seen as weakness.It’s simply human.

Acceptance woven into everyday life

At a market stall, a vendor calls out playfully in a high, melodic voice.In a café, two men tease each other while touching up their hair in a phone screen.In a salon, stylists in bright shirts laugh, dance, and sprinkle affection into every gesture.

No one hides.No one has to explain.

In a world that often tells men to be hard, Manila allows them to be soft.It embraces difference not as something strange, but as something familiar, part of daily life, part of its rhythm.

And perhaps that’s why this city feels so alive:because it allows people to move freely between who they are and who they feel like being, moment to moment.

Softness as strength

Maybe that’s the lesson Manila whispers through all her noise and movement, that strength doesn’t always mean control or silence.Sometimes it means openness.Warmth.The courage to show tenderness in a world that often demands armor.

This softness, this acceptance, is what makes Manila glow.It’s what lingers with you long after you’ve left her streets.

And so…

From the quiet resilience of Intramuros,to the flavors and energy of Binondo,to the surreal humanity of the North Cemetery,and now the gentle fluidity of everyday Manila, this city has shown me every side of what it means to live.

And honestly, if you’re still not curious about Manila, or don’t know what to do here after all this… I really don’t know what else to tell you.