The Truth of Man

In today's society, men are expected to act macho and unbreakable.  They should never cry, and they should never express too much emotion.  If they do, they are considered womanly or gay.  This is shown in Things Fall Apart as well.  Okonkwo thinks men should be war-like, hard-working, and controlling.  When the missionaries start to settle in and he returns to his people letting the missionaries do what they please, he declares the men have become cowardly and more like women.  After the missionaries and their followers have abused six of the village's men, he realizes that his village is not going to step up like men and fight, so he hangs himself (which I believe to be just as cowardly).  Okonkwo is so ashamed of how his village is acting that he resorts to killing himself.  I believe that our society today is somewhat similar.  Guys are ashamed if they cry because they have been taught that men don't cry, only women cry.  So when they do, they hide it from others.  If others hear about it or see it, the guys tease him and the girls think it is weird.  I do not think this is how it should be.  People have different fears, and we all need to express it.  Okonkwo was wrong in judging his village for how they acted.  They were scared.  And as a society, we are wrong when we judge guys for crying or showing emotion.  I have a friend who has recently been struggling with all the things that are taking place in his life.  Whether it is the change in his friends or what may happen in the future, he is struggling with how to handle it.  Sometimes he just cries, and he feels ashamed to tell me or anyone about it because men are not supposed to do that [cry].  My friend told me that he has been girly lately because he has been crying, and he is happy one moment and then mad or sad the next.  Guys should not feel that way, but our society is doing that to them.  It is just adding to everything else they have to worry about.  That is not fair to them.  Therefore, I believe we should take a stand against our society's views of how a man should act.  Okonkwo took a stand, probably the wrong stand though.  I believe we should take the right stand and be there for the men our lives to show that we support them and are always there for them, even when they just need to cry.  The truth is men are people just like women are, and as people, we all have emotions.  We should not have to hide that.