Manifestations of masculinity are mostly, apparently, dormant (6)
I believe the answer is:
beards
'manifestations of masculinity' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are plural nouns, I don't understand how they can define each other.
'are mostly apparently dormant' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
an anagram of 'are' is 'ear' which is located in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for beards that I've seen before include "Debars the hairy growths" , "Debars on account of facial growths" , "Hairy facial growths" , "Tufts of facial hair" , "Hairy growths on faces" .)