Boys are taught that strength is suppression of emotion among other things and the results are disastrous.

Fucking thread.

Boys are tough to be "tough" whatever the fuck that means. They're often rewarded for fighting back their tears. They're often subtly encouraged to act out on their anger.

Oftentimes their dads are emotionally distant. So the message sent is that emotional connection is for girls, not boys.

It bleeds out into the schoolyards. Boys are mocked for crying. Boys are ridiculed for showing sensitivity.

It bleeds onto the campuses when they think they're owed sex; that it's their birthright. It seethes into their views of women as being lesser, weaker.

It moved through their entire lives. It's a sickness.

Boys are far more likely to commit suicide than girls, statistically. Mass shooters, be it children or adults, are almost always male. Look it up if you don't believe me.

Women are not more emotional than men. The human race is an emotional species. This macho bullshit has got to stop.

Whole fucking personas of "manliness" pop up as a result of fear; fear of being percieved as weak, or homosexual (which has long been considered the apex of weakness among the toxically masculine crowd).

You have scared men now berating other men for showing sensitivity. I've been called a "simp" just for being nice to women. Me, a husband twelve years counting and father.

You have men vying for some socially constructed "alpha" status. It comes out of fear, not strength.

They come up with names for it, like "alpha male," or "big dick energy," or "traditional masculinity." And they wrap themselves in it like a security blanket.

For fear of being perceived as weak, men construct a place of safety. The place is built out of certain characteristics. So the scared men adopt these characteristics and wear them like armor.

They want protection from being perceived as "weak." Something visible. Something outward. So they wear the clothes, live the lifestyle, posture the postures, all to send the signal that they are not weak.

When I was in high school, fights would break out if one boy called another boy anything synonymous with weak. The accused often felt compelled to prove his strength. There were few things more terrible than perceived weakness.

Boys who displayed emotional sensitivity are often ostracized, forming their own communities that are seen from the outside as frail, counterculture.

Look at the physical strength and athleticism it takes to do ballet, and yet men who dance are oft assumed to be gay. And, for some reason, gay has been a synonym for weak among frightened men and boys for ages.

Men are literally terrified to the point where they'll lash out at the mere notion of being perceived as gay.

Why is fear considered strength?

Anytime a man speaks out to undermine their safe place, these scared men retaliate. They'll say "he has a little dick." They'll call you a "simp" or an "incel." But all they're doing is projecting their fear.

You watch. If this thread is shared a lot, they'll feel threatened, and show it.

The macho bullshit parade needs to be dropped. It's stupid and harmful. Socially constructed masculinity norms hurt everyone. Fuck that shit.

I did not proofread this so