Yes they do, and it’s ok. Boys do cry and girls are strong.
I want to start this post by first saying that anyone that truly believes the title of this post needs to wake up from the old stone ages and enter the world today.
It is perfectly perfect for boys to cry, or not cry, to show emotion, to express feelings, to be sensitive, to communicate and to feel. Hell….I think we want that of the males today!
I am so tired of hearing comments like “don’t cry, you are a big boy,” or “boys don’t cry, are you a girl,” or “don’t be a crybaby.”
While yes, sometimes over dramatic tears over eating steamed carrots or making the bed does piss me off and I will say, ok enough with the tears, just get it done…I am completely impartial to saying that to my daughter or son.
Truth be told…it doesn’t matter.
Why gender doesn’t matter when it comes to emotion.
Emotion allows us to be human. To be able to express vs. suppress a feeling is what defines living. Emotion is our breath, it’s our soul singing, it’s our true self coming through. When we quiet it, we shove all that down deeper and deeper. Only to get cluttered with the “should do this” and “be like this” ideals of others. It’s not ok.
I’m not saying open the flood gates and every man go and cry now about your NFL team losing last Sunday, or trying to be over sensitive. I am saying we as a whole need to be less annoyed when we see a young boy cry vs. a girl.
We tend to try to strengthen the boy but coddle the girl.
This is what needs to change.
Emotion, tears and expression don’t depend on gender. Hell no.
We want our boys to be able to comprehend all emotions, that they are valid to understand why one may cry and how to communicate how one feels and how to resolve that. We need to encourage being open to whatever the feeling so that never it is suppressed to show up as anger or misplaced emotion in other ways. We need to empower boys that it’s ok to cry but tell me why.
At that same turn, our girls need to be taught to express their emotions and not be displaced when emotional. That thinking that girls always cry or are always emotional…it needs to bounce. Only then will girls learn that it’s not just accepted to always cry and not be acknowledged for what is occurring within, or be seen as weak.
Let’s empower our kids to feel what they feel and that it’s okay to feel that.
It’s going to be 2020 soon.
I think it’s time we let’s go of the cliches.
Boys can cry. And girls can be strong.
C’mon.
