a blog created by and for UCF (University of Central Florida) Theories of Masculinity students to share experiences, resources/links, articles/reviews, to rouse discussion and incite action, and engage issues related to masculinity. you should participate, too. email moderator for permission at Leandra@ucf.edu.
Sunday, November 22, 2015
Boys DON'T Cry
Today I was at the grocery store and I saw a young boy around the age of 7. The toddler was with his father and he slipped and scraped his knee on the ceramic floor. He then looked at his father with pain and hurt in his eyes. The little boy tried so hard to hold back his tears but could not stop himself from crying. His father picked him up and said "boy you better wipe those tears..BOY DON'T CRY!" How many of you have ever heard the saying "boys don't cry?"....This statement began to make me think.....
If boys don't cry what do they do?
No one is immune to pain so what do boys to when they are hurt?
Why are they not allowed to be human?
It is dehumanizing to impose this statement on any person. Boys who don't cry are more likely to grow up and become angry men who are desensitized to pain and use anger as a coping method to pain. Men are so often locked in this prison of silence to where they are forced to dehumanize their emotions and become monsters all in the name of "manhood." I believe this is why men are perceived as violent creatures.
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