Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 August 2016
In submitting to the Institute the results of our investigation into the subject of masculinity, we are aware that this theme is somewhat outside the ordinary discussions of the Institute, and we only propose to deal with certain aspects of the question. It may therefore be well to begin by defining the term masculinity, which is simply a convenient expression for stating in one word the proportion of the sexes at birth. The choice of this word has been determined by the fact that male births generally predominate in number over female births. According to the extent of this predominance, masculinity may be described as high or low. The usual practice is to state the number of male births to 1,000 females. When the male births are fewer than the female births the masculinity is said to be negative, the representative figure being then below 1,000.