Dear Society, Ken doesn’t exist either

Dear society,

Ken doesn’t exist either. 

We have a stereotype to fit in to too  you know? Buff. Abs. Tan. Masculine. Sporty. Doesn’t cry. We’re expected to be all that and more. Now, we’re not complaining about society not paying attention to our stereotype and fights to converge female gender roles. All we’re saying is, we have gender roles too. Social standards that makes us feel insecure, social standards that makes us feel like we don’t belong. We push ourselves to be that perfect image, and no one really knows we do it, all of it, just to get approval. The media bombards our stereotypes as much as they bombards a females’ stereotype. People think that only females suffer from expectations and stereotyping, that only they are victims of society, and males have it easy. But actually, no. We are just as much of victims of societal standards as females are. Have you ever seen a feminine guy that is accepted by society, in movies or in real life? Barely. We are titled “gay” if we prefer to have “feminine” hobbies, if we don’t play sports and workout. We are titled “weak” if we show emotions. We are titled “fag” if we don’t have abs and a muscular body. We are bullied if we join the theater club, the singing club, and the art club, because apparently  “that’s not what males do”.

“Be a man,” “suck it up,” and “don’t cry” are only a few phrases handpicked from a plentiful basket of ego-damaging constructions built into today’s society. Reinforcing rhetoric that feminizes emotional expression and masculines violence has the power to stunt empathy, drive dominance, and connect respect with fear. Boys are born loving creatures, but at a very young age they are taught the traits, diminutive language, and mind set that aligns them with society’s concept of what it means to be a man.

We are forced and molded to mask ourselves in a patriotic, masculine, even  “douchy” shell to be what society considers “a real man”. More and more people are fighting  against female social standards  and expectations, we boys, hope that the same can happen for us.

Sincerely, Males.

References:

“Male Gender Stereotypes Are Ruining Boys’ Futures.” Medical Daily. N.p., 22 Mar. 2015. Web. 08 July 2015. <http://www.medicaldaily.com/what-it-means-be-man-how-male-gender-stereotypes-try-fit-growing-boys-mold-and-fail-326450>.