Member-only story
Escaping Traditional Masculinity May Be the Bravest Thing a Man Can Do
I get that you are not unbreakable.
“Cry-baby.” Little boys hear these two heart-wrenching syllables as they grow to be men, and their ego and real emotions get suppressed.
I speak in truth, as a thirty-something-year-old woman that there is nothing sexier than a man living in his raw, emotionally naked self. It is what builds for connection and trust in a deep, long-lasting, and intimate relationship. I do not like to guess what you are thinking, feeling, or what it is that you really want. As your partner, I am there to listen. I don’t mind being told what your deepest heart’s desires really are.
Please — bare it all! I want to know what I am up against, what I can take, not take, and what I am willing to put up with (I dare you to try me!).
By all means, I do not expect you to suppress being the man you were born as; the one who may instinctively feed into his animalistic nature when he sees something, or someone his insides crave. But, I do ask that you not fear to remove the mask. I ask that you do not live in shame if that Ed Sheeran song you hear on the radio while driving to work gets you just a tad bit choked up, or, worse, forces you to start thinking about your own life…