Blog 2

“Men are not allowed to be afraid”

Personally this quote really stood out to me from reading from this week because of the significance it has in many different aspects of life.  When I was growing up from a very young age boys are basically told that when they are older they will have the careers of a man in the sense.  They then want to go grow up and be policemen, firemen, doctors and more and think that this isn’t fearful.  When they are young and playing sports they are always told to “suck it up” and “be tough” if they get hurt.  However, men can be afraid and fearful at times, who is to say they are not allowed to be afraid? There are men that everyday go out and risk their lives for others in their careers and most days these men are afraid while on the job.  For example, police officers do not know what to expect when going to work, they never can predict what exactly can happen.  They are put into situations where they might be afraid of what could happen because their lives or other might be on the line. 

            This is something that hit very close to home to me with my dad as well as many family friends being in the law enforcement career.  I grew up knowing that my dad was brave but later in life he is afraid every day he goes to work, because there are some days that he truly does not know if he will come home to my mom and I.  Although in this career they have to put up a front in order to stay professional that they are not afraid. Society has created this expectation that to be a man you should not have to be afraid and this is not what we should be teaching children.  According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, 97 officers have died in the line of duty just this year.  These officers whom were mainly men had to at one time be afraid of a situation they were in while serving others. 

            This quote also makes me think of the #fightlikeagirl campaign that was one time in the media.  Because girls are taught at a young age that they aren’t supposed to stand up for them selves and that the men are the strong and brave ones.  But this is not always the case; both women and men can be afraid of things as well as be brave and strong.  The girls that were featured in this video felt that they couldn’t be the strong and brave ones, but they should not be told this at such a young age.  When children are thought stuff this young they will believe it to be true when they are older.  Men shouldn’t feel that they cant be afraid because of what society will think about them.  This quote has really only become relevant because society believes that men shouldn’t be afraid and should be the strong side of everything. 

Here is the link to the #fightlikeagirl video that i referenced: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhB3l1gCz2E