I think it was Kant who had a great quote about measuring a man by his relationship with animals. In other words, if a man is kind to animals, it is all the more likely he is kind to his fellow humans, though not a given.
A great measure of a man and his manhood is determining what his relationships with women, whether they be relatives or romantic interests, look like. If he treats them poorly, has very bad relationships with them, always initially thinks they're lying when they make a rape accusation, and always complains about them complaining about things, chances are he's a loser.