1
Lugo
Thomas Lugo
Kale
English
10/18/18
Word count: 807
Contradiction
“Man up”, “You are such a sissy”, “Grow some balls”: These are all things men hear when they do not abide by the masculinity society has expected of them. I, a member of the L.G.B.T community, am a victim of these degrading words, as are many men of our society today for whatever their reason may be. Well, I say enough, enough of these restraints that society has out of us as a gender. The only thing this does is inhibit us from progressing forward as a whole.
The majority of our society is at fault of this, this ridiculous expectation of men. How can we say we, as individuals, are open to those who are different, yet quick to call out those of us who are not as everyone else? We are expected to: never show emotion, be “strong”, be hypermasculine, fearless and etc. Why are these the default characteristics that are expected of men? Why is it that if one is missing any of these character traits that they are not a “real” man. This is not accurate. A true man is one who is confident and comfortable in his own skin, that is, to put it in its simplest terms. Most men do not fit what society depictsas a man. I do not understand it because, usually the majority is the “norm”, however the “norm” is whatever falls within the sixty percentiles. I am almost certain that in today’s society most men do not fit in that sixty percentiles of society, of what is considered the majority. I for one, know that I do not fit into what is the ideal man. I am sensitive, feminine, sympathetic and still a strong individual. I am a man! Who is society to decide who one’s self is? Who are they to dictate who I should be?
We need to stop this now! It may not look like it but, in all actuality we as a society are suffering from this. We have men trying to prove themselves, and in the process are hurting others(women). They are trying to prove points and make statements to achieve the label of a “man”. These are the setbacks I was referring to earlier. Men end up jeopardizing things, such as relationships, their reputation, and etc. all to prove what? That they are what society ...
