Modern day Western society views being feminine as weakness, while masculinity is associated with confidence and dominance above all. It seems like more recently the media and society in general have put an emphasis on young women breaking the gender boundary, but what about young men? Very rarely do you see media stress the importance of men showing emotion, or hear about a relationship where the women has a more dominant role. Parents tend to stray from raising their boys more like daughters because of the way it will reflect them, every parent wants their child to be a leader, to be dominant and to be successful, all of which are associated with masculinity. Having a male child that reflects anything less than these qualities would
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Men have always been viewed in the sense of having to be emotionless, as if emotions, particularly those in association to sadness and grief, are not part of who we are genetically. Bergman supports this ideal of emotion being associated with weakness in the beginning of his short story in which the narrator is having a conversation with his mother about a relative of his showing emotions of grief, “Teenaged boys are not allowed to show that kind of emotion, they’re not rewarded for being demonstrably close with their families; usually they’re derided as sissies or faggots for their “weakness” as evidenced through crying…” (Bergman 30). Very few times have I come across a set of parents who have openly admitting to teaching their young boys that it’s okay to cry in a situation of sadness, and that it doesn’t reflect weakness. In contrast, parents seem to be much more acceptable of teaching their girls to ‘tough it out’ for the very that in today’s society it asserts dominance and shows strength. Why is though that crying and displays of emotion are so undesired by society, and why have they been labelled as feminine actions? It is a basic human reaction to be sad over upsetting situations, and gender traditions have restricted young boys the opportunity to get the attention and help
Men have always been viewed in the sense of having to be emotionless, as if emotions, particularly those in association to sadness and grief, are not part of who we are genetically. Bergman supports this ideal of emotion being associated with weakness in the beginning of his short story in which the narrator is having a conversation with his mother about a relative of his showing emotions of grief, “Teenaged boys are not allowed to show that kind of emotion, they’re not rewarded for being demonstrably close with their families; usually they’re derided as sissies or faggots for their “weakness” as evidenced through crying…” (Bergman 30). Very few times have I come across a set of parents who have openly admitting to teaching their young boys that it’s okay to cry in a situation of sadness, and that it doesn’t reflect weakness. In contrast, parents seem to be much more acceptable of teaching their girls to ‘tough it out’ for the very that in today’s society it asserts dominance and shows strength. Why is though that crying and displays of emotion are so undesired by society, and why have they been labelled as feminine actions? It is a basic human reaction to be sad over upsetting situations, and gender traditions have restricted young boys the opportunity to get the attention and help