Boys Can Cry Too!

 Writer: Shahd Fekry


Here’s the thing, society: Real men do cry. Real men do feel. Real men talk and grieve. 

Dear Society, 

Let’s settle something once and for all: Boys are allowed to have feelings too. We always hear parents telling their sons, who are in tears “Don’t cry! Big boys aren’t allowed to cry; only little girls cry.” This phrase is said by most parents, which makes their sons feel ashamed of being upset or showing emotions, and they desperately try to hold back their tears. When boys are young, they probably have no clue why they aren’t allowed to cry. They never realize that when they grow up, crying would make people think they’re ‘weak’.

However, centuries have put an umbrella over women, saying they are over-emotional and that they cry all the time. Whereas men have an umbrella over their heads that tells them that showing their emotions make them look weak. If they shed a tear, they aren’t masculine. How can you tell someone that being upset makes them less of a person? It is a completely natural thing to happen. All genders cry; all humans cry.

 

Since I am a strong feminist, I believe that guys have some tough ideals placed on them, for example, young boys aren’t allowed to like pink or play with dolls, because this makes them ‘feminine’.

 

I believe we could change; we can change this world into a place where boys stand with an emotional vocabulary and aren’t afraid to use it, where boys honour and value their emotional lives as rich windows to their souls, where men can be real men.