Week 9

Stigma! Woah after reading all the material for this topic and watching the videos all I can say is. True! Very True! However, this is something you really don't know because we (men/boys) have been trained to think and act the way that we do and we try to portray it as normal. Before we even become the age to be a man, we are told to act like a "MAN", when in reality we are only babies and children and we are doing what kids do. For example crying to express sadness or disappointment while you're a child, you are often told "Toughen up and be a man", but you are just acting out your natural reaction to the situation. Once this action is repeated this over and over, you become equipped to it and now you're "tough, a bad a**, a MAN".
No to really, after reading the After There's Something Absolutely Wrong With What We Do To Boys Before They Grow Into Men shows that trying to make boys be men before the are even men has a negative and deadly effect on them. This Mask that we have to put on everyday, makes it difficult for young males to express there true feelings and sometimes even seek help when they need it, due to the fact that they fear being ridiculed by peers that are suppressed by the same stigma. As many other males have experienced, I have personally experienced the reinforcement of making boys "men". I have heard over and over how not to be like a girl and to not show emotions, because that's not what men do. This type of stigma is dangerous, due to fact that after it is experienced over and over one becomes desensitized to emotion. This just doesn't happen to your emotions it happens, ones starts to lose regard for how others feel. This can lead to violence on vast levels, and this is one of the major reasons that we see abuse and violent behavior among young males.
I after reading the 11 things that makes wish they could do. I felt uncomfortable just thinking about doing some of those things. This is because I have been so conditioned by the male stigma that thinking about, " wanting to say another male is attractive" is uncomfortable for me and it's hard for me to process it. Like many things on that list it hard for me think about doing those things, which should probably be normal things that human beings do.