“The way our culture treats boys sickens me. I had an 11-year-old boy in my room to have blood drawn today. He was crying, not bawling or throwing a fit, just a few nervous tears.
His guardian kept telling him to ‘man up’ and ‘stop asking like a sissy’. Then she threatened to record him crying to show it to all his friends, which made him cry more. I told her we had a strict no recording/photo policy and she got mad at me for ‘ruining the joke.’
When this woman went to the bathroom I told the kid it was okay to express his emotions however he needed to and even grown men are scared of needles.
Everyone is scared of something and he was brave for doing it even though he was scared.
Stop. Telling. Boys. They. Aren’t. Really. Boys. For expressing emotion.
Do you know why women and femmes have to fear violent men? Because of this sh*t that represses boys and men.
Crying doesn’t make you weak. Fear doesn’t make you weak. But berating a child for showing those things makes you one weak a** adult.”
This story was submitted to Love What Matters by Lyra Balearica. Join the Love What Matters family and subscribe to our newsletter.
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