Ever heard a mom telling their young boy to “stop crying like a girl”. The mother would just be trying to make the boy stop crying. But, don’t you think a better approach to making the child stop crying would be listening to the problem and saying it will be fine.
Practices like these in our society have made men think that they have to act strong. Masculinity is considered strong and being feminine is weak.
What we forget in all this is that men just like women have emotions. but, they are forced to hide these feelings because then they won’t be considered “man enough”. Showing emotions is not a sign of weakness but that is how our society sees it.
“men are strong”
“women are weak”
A lot of the time guys feel pressured to act a certain way because of our society. They feel if they don’t act man enough they will be bullied. A lot of guys say things like, “why are you acting like a girl” or, “Stop acting gay” to the sensitive guys.
So, to avoid that a lot of men act bad to “fit in” even if they aren’t like that in real life. It is considered “cool” to make sexist, racist, anti-feminist jokes because that is how their friends are going to accept them.
Is being called a girl or gay something to take offense for?
Acknowledging emotions does not make people “weak”.
Men who make fun of other men for being sensitive are the men who follow toxic masculinity. They are the ones that need to change their mentality.
Did you know that suicide rates in men are higher than in women?
This mainly happens because men are forced to act strong even when they are struggling. Whereas, women tend to communicate their problems with their friends, family or even take help from a therapist. But, when it comes to men they think they have to be strong and masculine. So, when they struggle they tend to think that there is no way out of their situation.
If you are a man reading this. You don’t have to pretend to be strong. It is fine to struggle. Every human being has ups and downs in their life.
Something that will help you deal with those ups and downs is talking to people. Admit you have an issue, sometimes talking to people about problems is the only solution needed.
We as a society need to encourage men to open up. Parents need to start talking to their sons as much as they talk to their daughters. If you have a brother, make sure you talk to him and let him know you are there for him. Getting boys to open up from an early age is really important.
We need to change the very idea of being strong. Being strong means accepting who you are, accepting your vulnerability, not being afraid to show your emotions, and standing up for what you believe in.
Eduindex News 