Jhenise G.

Vidal
Humss 11-St.Catherine of Siena

”Is it Okay for Men to Cry?”

Is it okay for men to cry? Does crying make them less manly? Society has played a part
in gender roles. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines gender roles as "socially
constructed roles, behaviours, activities and attributes that a given society considers
appropriate for men and women". To put it simply, gender roles are the idea of how a
certain gender is supposed to act. It mostly focuses on two genders only, the female and
male. This causes a gap between the two genders. These gender roles have a negative
effect as it creates an expectation on people to the point that those expectations are so
unrealistic and toxic. As a result, the toxic standards on different genders are formed.
An example of this is toxic masculinity. Toxic masculinity refers to traditional cultural
masculine norms that can be harmful to men, women, and society overall. Which brings
us back to our question, is it okay for men to cry? The answer is yes and it doesn’t make
them any less of a man. Which is why we should address toxic masculinity and to
completely get rid of the idea of it.

Crying is a natural thing for us. It is actually also healthy. It is said to be a natural way to
reduce stress that, if left unchecked, could have negative physical effects on the body,
including increased risk of cardiovascular disease and other stress-related disorders. By
crying, you somehow relieve your stress, improve your mood, and lower your blood
pressure and many more. By suppressing your emotions and bottling it all up, you might
find yourself exploding and overwhelmed by your emotions later on. Considering this,
by discouraging men from crying as it does not suit them, it takes their mental health at
risk. While crying is frowned upon for them, the toxic masculinity also views having
mental health problems weak as well. Research suggests that depression is diagnosed
less frequently in men because of the tendency to deny illness, self-monitor symptoms,
and self-treat. Suppressing all your emotions can lead to dangerous things. In today’s
society, some people are acknowledging these issues and are trying to fix these
problems. Although, there are still people who hold up to their beliefs and refuse to
listen. Nevertheless, we still have hope. As long as there's one person who tries to make
our society better, we must not lose our faith. However, if we really wish to get rid of it,
then all of us must take action.