The Masculine Aspect of Tea

(This image courtesy of http://www.dreamstime.com/).

To some extent the idea of "tea" is widely considered feminine, and with good reason. Most men would probably not willingly accept an invitation to anything named a "tea party". "Tea" can conjure images of flowery "cute" tea pots, cups, and saucers; small tea spoons; light tea in delicately small china cups; ladies in dresses and floral hats; sunny outdoor luncheons with tiny cakes. (I apologize for the excessive semicolons. I have been very careful with my use of them lately, and I miss them!) It is understandable that there is, in fact, a "feminine" aspect to tea.

I don't think I need to expand on that aspect, because most of us are already aware of it.

This short post will be purely my own opinion. I have nothing to back my claims except my view on the subject. I may even, God forbid, ramble.

I misled you somewhat with the title of this post, because I do not think tea has a decidedly "masculine" aspect to it. I do believe it has a side that is not solely feminine. It can be a lacy decorative shawl (feminine) or a warm winter scarf (masculine/feminine).

It is this aspect of which I would like to convince the "too manly for tea". And I don't have many tools to "convince", because I know that if a man (or anyone, really) is determined not to like tea, for whatever reason, I can't change his mind.

Tea is not little cups, weak, or flowery. Tea is a hot strong mug of reviving strength. No, it's not coffee or beer. It's not strong in that way. In fact, tea can be humble in the sense that the flavors of some teas are delicate. The "strong" man guzzles beer or black coffee, not tea - right? He's the man who could rip down a brick wall with his bare hands. He's got black hair on his chest. He has a low, deep voice and a hearty guffaw. He swears loudly, and some people are afraid of him.

But the other type of "strong" man controls himself. He is slow to become angry. He will listen to you, and look at you while he listens, and when he speaks, he will be compassionate and thoughtful. He is respected by those around him. This is the "humble" kind of strong. This is the male tea drinker. I am not making this up - I am taking these traits from male tea drinkers in my acquaintance.

If you take pride in being the first man, the "black chest hair" man, notice the word "pride". Not that I'm not proud, or that I'm one to pass judgment on anyone else for being proud. I know because of being a proud woman that people enjoy my company better if I am humble, and I fail in that. But about men! I can't say too much about what type of man you ought to be, because I am not a man and I have stereotyped men terribly in this post.

So all I can say is this: I want to marry a tea-drinking man.