Boys become gendered verbally through parents, coaches, caregivers, other men, etc. When they are children as early as the age 5, boys hear “Be a man”, the concept of being a man gets put through their head without really knowing what being a man really means. In Gendered Lives stated by Wood (2016), another way boys become gendered is by not being feminine (p. 152). When boys mature they learn that it is not okay to be openly expressive with their feelings unless it is anger or they run the risk of being labeled as sissy or wimp (Wood, 2016, p. 152). This is very problematic because it limits boy's into a box of expressions they can only show that can later lead to problematic encounters in the future. It shows that they cannot be expressive in their feelings and that can ruin their self-esteem.
