In today's society, where norms are often being challenged and every day there is a new trend, we are still facing an issue that has existed since the beginning of time. Daily, men succumb to the pressures of hyper-masculinity. This pressure of hyper-masculinity continues to brew in the belly the society with every passing minute.
For those of you who do not what hyper-masculinity is, hyper-masculinity is the ideology that men have to behave, dress, talk, look, and smell a certain way to be respected and defined as a man. It is where one's masculinity is often challenged and perverted to be something that the oppresses men and violates women. Hyper-masculinity is riddled with aggression, hyper-sexuality and maximum physical strength. It is perpetuated everywhere. Whether it is in our schools, the media, fashion or entertainment. This ideology often voids men of being human. It requires us to negate the very things that are hardwired in the human body.
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Growing up as a man, better yet a black man, in America, I was raised in front of the gun that is hyper-masculinity. When I was a child I often heard the phrases "Dry those tears, men don't cry" or "Real men don't..." or "That's gay, don't do that." As a male child, your first goal is being seen as a "man". But when you hear those words, it scares you in a place that you cannot even put a finger on. You may not understand what those comments mean when they were said to you at the age of 10, but you never forget those moments. You internalize the moments up until the you reach adulthood. You model your actions and mannerisms around those comments. You begin to void out emotions, dress differently to be accepted by your peers and subject yourself to dangerous behaviors just so you friends don't see you as a "pussy." Men affected by hyper-masculinity are often living lives riddled with untreated depression, stress and anxiety. While suffering from these things, many of these men commit violent crimes to defend their masculinity when it is threatened, or have horrible relationships with their families because they were not taught the proper emotional and communication skills. All of this happens because many men are placed in an environment where people focused on creating "real men" rather than decent human being.
So, I ask of you, will we sit back and allow this psychological behavior of hyper-masculinity to destroy the families and emotional development of men across the globe? Or will you step up and allow our young boys to grow up and become decent men who are not afraid of being themselves?
