Growing up the phrase ‘Boys don’t cry’ wasn’t just something I heard teachers say to my classmates, but it was also what I heard my mother tell my brother.
Somehow society managed to associate gender with some type of emotion.
It’s sad to think that a ten year- old -boy can’t cry when he loses his toy because according to society, it is wrong and it will make him look weak.
Most of them have been conditioned from a very young age not to express or communicate emotions and that according to reports, has made many seek other measures like drowning themselves in substance abuse and committing suicide.
ALSO READ: 29-year-old man succumbs to wounds after setting himself on fire
According to research carried out by the World Health Organization (WHO), the estimated number of suicides every year is 703,000 people and most of them are men.
It states that for the most part, it will take thoughts of suicide to compel men to speak up and ask for mental health support.
The biggest reason is; that they are too embarrassed or they don’t wish to be a burden to anyone.
In an interview with TV47, Dr. Julius Kimani a relationship expert in Kenya said that unless they change the narrative of men seen as weak when they cry, the world where men don’t cry is here to stay.
“I’ve never cried in front of people because men don’t cry.” Dr. Julius said and even laughed about it.
However, in that same interview Oncologist, Dr. Edward Sang said that men just need to find a comfortable space for them to let out their emotions because withholding them inside does more harm than good.
And when it comes down to it and it’s too late we’ll continue to ask ourselves what is it that could have been done.
Unlike men, women tend to be more communicative about their mental health around mental health and can discuss their feelings with others rather than resorting to internalizing their emotions.
Crying is not a gender-based emotion and we hope for a world where men can be vulnerable without being painted as weak for communicating their emotions because it’s quite the opposite.
Men who break free from toxic societal standards are the furthest thing from weak.
Additional reporting by Keit Wangari.
ALSO READ: Why are men taking away their lives?
