Big Guy's Don't Cry

Essay by PaperNerd ContributorCollege, Undergraduate February 2002

download word file, 5 pages 3.0

Downloaded 17 times

BIG BOYS DON"T CRY Crying in public. This has never been something the male race has been approved to do, so when I saw this gender norm "violation" as a possibility, I hopped right on it. Growing, up both of my parents had always stressed the importance of "sucking it up" and "taking it like a man." I guess that is what their parents had told the boys in their family, so it must have been customary to teach me the same thing.

This gender norm had to have been established because of the idea of men and their responsibilities. Since the beginning of time men were held accountable for their families. Their jobs were to protect them. A man had to be strong to defend his family's honor and safety. And crying was associated with weakness, this why women were aloud to do it because it was expected of them to be dependent upon their man and look to him for security and guidance.

So if a man was ever seen crying, he was often the target of ridicule, and was never respected by his peers and even his own family. This provided all the more reason for the man to remain stoic and emotionless, especially when he was in public. Despite the fact that crying is said to be therapeutic and a good way to relieve tension, stress or anger, and even though tears do help flush foreign objects out of the eye, men must continue to be the backbone.

Date: November 20, 2001 Time: 12:15pm Place: Commons on Campus Pulling off this task would not be an easy one. I found a spot on campus at commons where I knew a lot of people would pass. I sat at the bench and began to think intensely. I...