Growing up they say "men don't cry" and I'm like "wow" so men aren't human enough to possess the feeling that would probably make them emotional to the point of shedding tears "like why" That statement messed with my head to the point where I'm seeing a movie and I see a man cry. Immediately that statement will start dancing in my head and I would be like "men don't cry".
Now my head is reminiscing about what happened some years ago when I was still in a higher institution. A friend of mine "Male'' had this feeling for a girl whom he was ready to risk everything for. Often I find myself questioning every one of his life choices the moment this girl came into his life. To the point that it started affecting our friendship "maybe she was being insecure and wanted me out of his life" because my presence was becoming like a hindrance to destroy their relationship.
At the beginning, I was very happy with my friendship but then as time went by I started feeling a certain way because the relationship wasn't meant to change somebody from their original self into something entirely different right? I found my friend doing things on a normal day he wouldn't do. I started questioning some of his actions and I would be like "Are you for real".
The relationship grew and I could feel the butterflies in my friend's stomach dancing in my belly because I hadn't seen him this happy before though losing himself and I thought "Maybe the relationship was meant to change people" I thought to myself and then at that point I find myself answering the same question I was asking myself. After five months of being with this girl in question "the love of his life," she walked away leaving him shattered as if nothing happened.
She just disappeared after graduating from the higher institution because she was a year higher than him. Leaving him broken into pieces like a broken glass. One day he came to my apartment with his whole face swollen, I thought he had gained some weight from the breakup but I didn't know my friend had been crying his eyes out. The moment I opened the door he fell into my arms and poured those tears out like rain falling down from the sky.
Before I could utter any word, he started "She left me without thinking about what it would do to me" At that moment I couldn't hold myself any longer because I couldn't stand it when people cried in my presence. It's at the point I realized that men are human and are entitled to the different emotions women feel.
In the world we live in today there is a social construct built around the emotions of men "like they aren't human enough" often when men go through certain things you would hear people say " be a man, men don't cry" society has misconstructed this meaning of being masculine that has made alot of men fall into this endless circle leading them to high depression and suicide.
Men should also be allowed to express their emotions when they're weak, sad, and have something going on deep inside of them because "they are human" and have blood running through their veins. Men should be allowed to be full humans and express their emotions, when they feel like crying they should be allowed to cry because sometimes bringing out those tears helps a lot in getting over certain moments.
If I see a grown man crying, I will encourage him to cry harder because it helps him to get over the situation in a way.
Thanks for reading 🧡