The downside of being a Man

Dear Readers,

Recently, I blogged about how women, partially black women who are Fed Up with lackadaisical black men.Today’s post is decicated to men who feel that they don’t have parts of them that are broken; and their need to live in denial instead of addressing what is truly nagging at them. Its easy for men to lay blame and point the finger at women for the complications they suffer. Men rely on the theory of Orginal Sin. Remember Eve, Adams wife in the garden of paradise, as the story goes she lead her man astray by convincing him to take a bite from the forbidden fruit. Nice try, but no one is buying into this lame excuse to use women as scapegoats. The truth is men have experienced tragic lost, childhood trauma, abuse, neglect, and some witnessed the abuse of their mothers, were molested, and beaten by their father’s who told them they had to be a man.
Men are under pressure to be leaders, masculine, brave, and to disconnect from their emotional needs so that they wouldn’t appear to be weak. Men have been taught to be predators, aggressive, bread winners, players, and heroes. At a young age, little boys are taught to be tuff, first lesson don’t cry, second lesson be aggressive, third lesson learn how to fight, thus this is how little boys mature into angry adults. Men are told what to feel, and how to think like a man in some cases young boys are put in charge of being the man of the house a role he knows nothing about.
Men are taught that they have to take what they want, and to keep his women in check, that he is the head of the family and his authority should not be challenged. Some men are forced into marriages due to cultural beliefs; others because of knocking someone daughter up. And there are the momma’s boy’s, their mother’s treat them like surrogate husbands, keeping them at home and discourage any women she feels isn’t good enough for her son.
Men are getting married and they are on the DL. Men are allowed to have a wife and a side chick running between two homes, trying to be a man in one, and a player in the other. Bottom line men will never admit that they are oppressed by society’s standards on what it means to be a man. For centuries men have suppressed their anger, and deny that they are emotionally broken leading them to develop dysfunctional behaviors. Its because of these reasons and more that some men find it difficult to successfully engage in a one -on- one intimate relationship. And to conceal what is broken about them they shift the burden on women citing that we are difficult, too emotional, nags, too independent, angry, and selfish.
I would like to say to men I am a mother of a wonderful son who have developed into an amazing father, and dedicated husband. He wears many hats, a Solider, football coach, church musician, and he is an excellent cook. Over the years my son has opened up to me about experiences that have caused him pain, and I am happy about the positive path he has choose  to help heal his brokenness.
The world is not the enemy its just the ridiculous standards that society has heaped upon each gender placing them at a disadvantage. We are not allowed to be our true selves, instead we are told who we need to be.

What say you?

My Amazing son who taught me how to be a better mother and about power of unconditional forgiveness.

The commercialization of Gender

From before individuals are even aware of what gender is parents celebrate the assignment of a gender. The words “it’s a girl” or “it’s a boy” excites parents so that they are able to buy what they may perceive as the proper merchandise or home décor for their children. As time goes on, the assignment of gender has become commercialized and the media makes it so that these roles are fulfilled in its correct form. Society also has unrealistic standards about what constitutes as a real man or a real woman. If these gender roles are not fulfilled they suffer from punishments that at some times are not physical. Traditions and other factors may seem insignificant to some, but as time goes on one realizes that the media and evolving traditions eventually play a role in how gender is perceived by oneself and by others. 

Gender announcements were generally used for informative purposes have now become commercialized. Gender reveal parties are a new trend that many parents look forward to. A gender reveal event is when a woman opts out of finding out the gender of the child. The gender of the child is placed in an envelope and sent to a bakery or an event planner by the doctor’s office. Many friends and family are called to a venue or meeting place and extravagantly reveals the gender of the child. Although a child should be celebrated, many families who partake in these activities do not acknowledge the cons associated with celebrating a gender before a child is born. It is understandable that knowing the gender creates a sense of connectivity to the child before birth but our society and marketplace makes it difficult to just accept the fact that a child is born, and instead focus on the gender without observing the child’s actions to better understand who they wish to be.

This emerging act has been observed by many child developmental psychologists in the sense of encouraging parents to promote gender neutrality in their households. With gender neutrality being encouraged, some parents fall into believing myths of how gender neutrality can be detrimental to a child’s perception of gender. Some parents believe that gender neutrality parenting will make the child “anti-masculine” or “anti-feminine”. Some critics on this idea have a firm belief that this is a way of giving your child the approval to be gay. Studies and ideals like these are important because when an individual finally has the chance to be who they want to be, there is a sense of confidence in oneself that can be passed on to others that may struggle with their sense of belonging because of societal and strict family standards about deviating from the gender they were born.

When people think of how culture plays a role in what gender is, hip hop culture places a strong emphasis on how men should be. The hip-hop industry places a strong emphasis on what the “real man” is. Some songs have violent messaging and videos have degrading gestures to women in their music videos. Although individuals are quick to judge the media and rappers for using these songs to make a profit, it is imperative to realize that some of these values whether it be from the rapper or their management companies are instilled in young men when they are growing up. They are taught that women are “sluts” when they dress a certain way, and unfortunately some are taught that women should not talk back and if they do there are consequences. Even if a man is not taught these things, they observe these behaviors and ideals  in their households and project their beliefs in their performances or in their relationships. Unfortunately rappers are supposed to keep the mentality of a macho man, or they are perceived as a waste of a man or soft. Some people even go as far as to call them gay or told they are acting like a woman.  Although these punishments come in the form of insults, it poses a problem because it directly insults a woman and her gender roles.  

Society, traditions, and trends are a great influencer in the debate of what a real woman is. The real woman is supposed to have hourglass features, wear makeup, and wear colors that are appropriate for women. Along with trends and beliefs women should not be judged for how they decide to dress but should be prepared to understand the consequences that are accompanied in a world where being you is close to impossible. In this generation, we have “bottle service girls”, strippers, and video vixens who make a living by being who they want to be in the media. However, these are the same women who give no regard to the ridiculous real women debate, and stand by their beliefs regardless of what men might say about them. Women suffer from rape and are often insulted and disrespected when people think that they are not being “ladylike”. Women live in a world where if they defy gender norms, they risk being attacked physically or emotionally.

Another popular gender performance is the drag culture. In drag, masculinity and femininity is exaggerated. The common perception of people who participate in drag culture is that they defy gender norms and are gay. However, drag is merely a form of self-expression and those who enjoy it should not be judged. The drag culture is also criticized by the transgender community because some transgendered people work hard to embrace their new identities and believe that they are being ridiculed for it through performance.   

In society men are attacked for not being a manly man, while others attack women for not being lady like. Although people are so adamant in judging others about what they should be, we live in a world where people are not only attacked by words but other people punish others using actions. In a transgendered community, some are denied resources whether it be for employment or educational purposes. Also they are attacked and murdered when people do not understand self-expression. Rather than punishing people who deviate from gender norms using force, at time people make it hard for them to survive and insult them for wanting to express themselves in a way that other individuals may not understand. Individuals should start to live lives so that we are not judging someone because they are not straight or judging someone because they are partaking in drag performances. A simple “gender” assignment should not be an indicator of who has the okay to live a certain way.

What say You?