Be a man!

In today's society it is not easy for men to integrate both “male” and “female” qualities. We meet men who are either “strong” (but also tough, rigid, insensitive and sometimes violent) or men who are gentle, nice, but not very virile. The hard man is a man who was not given the right or not learned to be more feminine, kind, carefree, happy and sensitive…

A classroom survey showed that for girls, a man must be strong, virile, and powerful. Men are supposed to be less sensitive than women. Indeed, men generally do not manage to express their feelings easily; to cry is shameful because it is a sign of weakness.

In some primitive societies the man's place is well defined: he is the leader, and women are supposed to submit. But we live in a modern society and we want to know what it means to “be a man”.

A man must protect his family, not show any weakness, he has to be self-reliant and courageous. But society has evolved and a man today needs to be himself, and to be able to express his feelings. Today's man wants to be able to cry in public, to dance, even to go shopping! Today's man wants to be himself and not what we want him to be.

Intellectuals, philosophers, journalists, indeed everyone has contributed to the debate around the place of women in society, and the result is that women today have a better status. But who is talking about the role of men in today’s society?

Article by Antoine R.