A man needs to dream, for how can he accomplish greatness if he cannot see it in his own mind first? A man needs a hero. When he has someone to look up to, whether that someone be fictional or real, a man learns to see the good in others and strives to show the good in himself. A man needs to feel. How can you expect him to understand the feelings of others, if he cannot understand the feelings in his own heart? Instead, he should be allowed to express his emotions in its most raw form. Expression begets understanding, understanding begets self-awareness, self-awareness begets awareness of others, leading to empathy. A man needs to nurture. It is a gross assumption to think that men cannot be great caretakers. Although this aspect is getting much better, there is still a mindset that it's not men's "job" to look after children. In fact, it's not a job at all, it is a social responsibility that men took on when they helped bring another life into this world. We, as men, owe it to these future generations to be there for them, to protect them, to love them, and should we falter in our obligation to the soon-to-be men and women, our actions will cause a ripple effect that will poison our society, and doom us to repeat the cycle of absent fathers, brothers, uncles, cousins, and husbands. Men are capable of caring for children. In fact, they can be wonderful at it, if given the chance, and the emotional tools to do so.
In this country of mine, there is a very dangerous notion that the adult male is the biggest threat to a young child, and must be kept away at all cost. That notion, regrettably, was caused by the addiction to power and control from men. That addiction, though, is caused by the disparity of self-worth of a gender that is bred to think he has no intrinsic value. If a man is not rich, he is worthless. If a man walks away from a fight, he is weak. If a man cries, society will verbally castrate him. To say that a man is only as good as his accomplishments, his wealth, his influence, and his genetics, is to dehumanize him. We, as a culture, are Frankenstein, and we have created our own monsters. But we can change. We are all still human and, therefor, are capable of amazing things. To do so, however, we must completely change the way we raise our young men, and it all starts with a dream.
