Originally Posted by martinguerre

Roman stoic ethics had huge body issues, that too much desire or too much anyhing could make a man porous. They didn't believe in two biologically determinate genders...and so this weakening could literally effeminize a man in to a woman. The development of the mind, body, and control of each was the "hardening" process by which a man stayed manly. Anything else meant softening in to a woman.