How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
[…] since his wife's illness and the departure of his older daughters, Mr. Clutter had of necessity learned to cook […]. Mr. Clutter enjoyed the chore, and was excellent at it—no woman in Kansas baked a better loaf of salt-rising bread, and his celebrated coconut cookies were the first to go at charity cake sales […]. (1.13)
Herb Clutter is Exhibit A, and he's extremely secure in his masculinity. How do we know? It takes a secure guy to bring his cookies to a bake sale. We're guessing some of his buddies would have been afraid of being laughed out of the church.
Quote #2
Of course, Dick was very literal-minded, very—he had no understanding of music, poetry—and yet when you got right down to it, Dick's literalness, his pragmatic approach to every subject, was the primary reason Perry had been attracted to him, for it made Dick seem, compared to himself, so authentically tough, invulnerable, "totally masculine." (1.22)
As much as he values them, Perry's artistic interests don't make him feel traditionally masculine. He relies on Dick's practicality, which makes him feel protected. Dick is the "doer" of the pair; Perry's the dreamer. He's often referred to in ways that make him seem feminine.
Quote #3
As an educated man successful in his profession, an eminent Republican and church leader—even though of the Methodist church—Mr. Clutter was entitled to rank among the local patricians, but […] their pleasures were not his; he had no use for card games, golf, cocktails, or buffet suppers served at 10—or, indeed, for any pastime that he felt did not "accomplish something." (1.108)
Goal oriented and practical—that's Herb Clutter in a nutshell. Those traits tend to be traditionally associated with masculinity, which is why men don't see the point of ringing up friends just to chat. (Back in the day when people used phones to talk to their friends, we mean.) Interesting that Perry also sees practicality as the mark of a man.