Good questions. I think that most (though not all) of it comes from the way women are wired; just as we men are generally (though not always) physically stronger thanks to our gender wiring, women have the advantage emotionally. I think this is further demonstrated by the higher percentage of women than men in college in America and other first-world democracies where women are able to advance their stations in life.

But when it comes to effeminate gay men, I honestly don’t have a good answer. My brother-in-law is one such. We get along very well, and now that I think back, yes, he does have the feminine kind of gumption, the will to keep going no matter what. That’s how he got his masters, yet was still willing to wipe elderly butts as a caregiver, and then to find his own way here in America.

That begs the question, what about masculine lesbians? I have to admit that the ones I’ve known are courageous indeed, if in a manly sort of way. When the going gets physically tough, they’re in with the best of us.

So I guess that adds up to…yeah, in my decidedly unqualified opinion, the presence of femininity or masculinity does seem to have an effect on determining what kind of courage the person will have.