Male (also known as man, guy, dude, or boy (diminutive)) is a gender which is part of the Western gender binary. It is often associated with masculinity and a connection to boyhood or masculinity (as defined in one's society). It includes both cisgender, transgender, genderqueer, and non-binary men. Some non-binary individuals may have a partial connection to being a man/boy or masculinity, in which case they may identify as a non-binary male, man-aligned (helian), maingender, and/or miaspec.
Man is a term used for adults, while boy is used for children and teenagers. Guy is used as a casual word for men, typically younger men. Male can be used as an umbrella term for both men and boys, or is sometimes used as a synonym for man, however "male" can also be used to denote sexual traits, and is typically not used in general conversation due to it being considered overly clinical/formal. "Man" and "boy" are generally used when referring to gender as opposed to "male". "Male" is sometimes also used to exclude transmasculine people. The word wergender was created to encompass all of the various words.
Individuals who are assigned male at birth (AMAB) are often raised with the expectation that they will identify as men, although not all AMAB individuals are male and not all males are AMAB. Identifying as a man is often associated with a masculine gender expression and gender role, however not all males are masculine-presenting, and neither all individuals who are masculine-presenting are actually men.
Flag
The astronomical symbol for Mars is the most commonly known symbol for males. It represents the shield and spear of the Roman god of war. It is also the alchemical symbol for iron.
The man flag was designed by Tumblr user Trintinic on December 29, 2017.[1] The dark blue represents those who identify fully as men (binary man). Light blue represents those who identify partially as men (demiboys, etc.) White represents multigender individuals who have man as one of their genders.
The male flag was designed by arco-pluris on September 18 2020, based on a stamp by DeviantArt user SilenceTheFox.[2][3] There is no known meaning.