I am sure that every one of us has encountered before a toxic masculine friend, teacher or parent, etc. that tries to tell you what to do, how to talk, how to behave, and how you must dress.
Well, I don’t see how this benefits our society in any way, we shouldn’t let our society shape us the way they want to, this needs to stop. As a teenager, I don’t want the upcoming generation to face what we are facing. I believe that guys should be able to do whatever they want without being judged and not have to be ashamed of stupid things like how “naturally soft” their voices are ( which is an example of a situation i have seen).
A lot of us have been told to “toughen up” because we acted in a matter that they saw as threatening to their masculinity, and this needs to stop, we should be able to do whatever we want without being picked on.
Dont get me started on body shaming, there are a lot of guys out there, that get called names for not having the “alpha male body”, it’s either they are “too skinny” or “too chubby”, and people will keep asking them “Why don’t you go to the gym like a proper man?” from when is being ” a proper man” linked to how my body looks? honestly tho, love your body everyone there is nothing to be ashamed of.
And then the greatest dilemma of it all football, Not every guy likes sports, and that’s totally okay. you don’t have to put them through a hard time just because they don’t have the same hobby preference as you are.
some other guys like to take care of their skin – which they receive a ton of hate for-, while, they are being way more hygienic than you are, but you are not ready for that conversation yet.
lastly, I would like to talk about expressing feelings where feelings like sadness and/or love are categorized as “not manly” which is stupid because everyone has the right to express their feelings instead of bottling them up and being angry all the time.
If you are a guy reading this please express your feelings, it’s the healthy way to go.
In the end, I believe in free will, let people be themselves.
Love yourselves! Don’t be ashamed to express yourself however you would like to. don’t care about what society thinks
“By far the worst thing we do to males by making them feel they have to be
hard –is that we leave them with very fragile egos” –New York Times
Written by: Amgad Tahoun.