Men are afraid of nothing but crying!

There are still a few days left until International Men's Day (November 19), but social networks are already buzzing with talk. I don't know about other countries, but in Vietnam, this special day seems to have only been widely known in recent years, when economic life has improved a lot. When being well-fed and warmly dressed has become a given, people have the time and mind to think about eating well and dressing well; of course, wealth and nobility give birth to courtesy, from one anniversary to another month of gratitude, it's endless. Men are more or less secretly jealous of women, jokingly saying, speaking frankly and evasively, that there are so many days a year for women, while men only have one day, and it also coincides with World Toilet Day! Giving in to women all year round, waiting for the day of honor to have to compete with the auxiliary works! Oh my, thinking about it makes me sad!

Facebook is full of statuses about men. Women write about men, men write about men… a lot, but strangely, all the words affirm strength, power and achievements. The male identity implicitly makes men the opposite of women – the weaker sex, not allowed to be self-conscious, feel sorry for themselves, sad, cry…, or if they do, they absolutely do not show it.

Who made that “rule”? No one, but nature created men with extraordinary strength, will, adventure, sharp intelligence,… and gave them the task of building and protecting the family and society. Therefore, men from generation to generation have unconsciously absorbed that pillar of thought in their minds. They must be strong, always strong, and cannot help but be strong. They cannot cry, must not cry, and dare not cry. Crying boys are often labeled as cowards and weak. Crying men are easily ridiculed and laughed at by others as useless.

But, what is wrong with tears?

We often shout slogans of gender equality, however, that equality has long been favored for women. The media talks a lot about feminism, while men's rights seem to be taken for granted, probably because men have so many rights, so they are rarely mentioned. But we often forget that, among the many rights that men are given, there are rights that are advantages, but there are also rights that are burdens.

Most men grow up under the vague pressure of having to prove themselves. From walking, talking, gestures, actions... to personality, emotions, attitudes..., they always have to try to appear as men as expected by their families and society. However, men are not wood or stone (even wood and stone will crack when hit hard), nor are they emotionless robots (machines will "short circuit" if overloaded!). Men are human, with all kinds of joy, anger, love, hate, and in many cases, their emotions are even more intense than women's because the pressure on their shoulders is heavier. It must be understood that expressing emotions is an obvious part of a real human being, not a measure of strength or weakness.

So, men just cry, what are you afraid of?

Sometimes I think that men are really miserable, because most of them grow up without a direction and role model to become a real, standard man. Most men have to make their own way in the journey to become a man, a patchwork image between family tradition and reflections from the bright, dim, and cloudy mirrors around them. Meanwhile, social prejudices rigidly stereotype their roles and positions in relationships, leading to many misunderstandings in expressing emotions. Men who are upset, disappointed, bored... often only have the most familiar way to release their anger, rage, or worse, smash and curse. Few men receive sympathy and understanding, subtle guidance, soothing, comforting, encouragement, and proper encouragement from those around them, including their mothers and wives - the two important women in their lives.

Therefore, in many cases, men need to cry, need to cry, even need to be guided to cry. Crying is not sentimental or tearful, but crying to release emotions, to release suppressed feelings, and then stand up stronger. Masculinity and feminism may differ in many things, but the right to cry needs to be recognized as equal soon. Because, all tears are equally salty…