Confronting societal expectations is a courageous act from "summary" of How Not To Be a Boy by Robert Webb
It’s a curious thing, being a boy. You start off trying to be like your dad, then you’re trying not to be like him. Then, if you’re lucky, you become a man and you realise that, in some ways, you are like him. And then you start trying not to be. There’s a rulebook, you see. It’s handed to you at birth. It says: this is how you be a boy. This is what you be like. Do this. Don’t do that. Be strong. Be stoic. Be tough. Be brave. Don’t cry. Don’t ask for help. Don’t be weak. Don’t be gay. Don’t be a girl. But what if you don’t want to play by those rules? What if you want to cry, to ask for help, to feel weak sometimes, to have the freedom to be yourself, whoever that might be? What if you want to confront those expectations, to challenge them, to say, ‘I’m not going to be constrained by your narrow definition of masculinity’? What if you want to be brave enough to step outside of that box, to show vulnerability, to embrace your emotions, to reject the toxic stereotypes that have been imposed upon you since birth? It takes courage, you...
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