A mother is speaking up against gender stereotypes following an incident involving her son. Jaime Primak Sullivan, a book author and a reality TV star, wrote a scathing commentary about why it's wrong to assume male boys should just "man up" after someone told her to stop babying her 8-year-old son who got hurt during a basketball game.
Primak Sullivan said her son Max got hit in the face with the ball and saw that he was in real pain. Max then searched for his mom in the crowd and ran towards her. "I wrapped my arms around him as he cried into my shoulder," Primak Sullivan wrote on Facebook.
As soon as that happened, someone from the crowd told her she shouldn't be "babying" her son. She didn't confront the person and let Max return to his game but the comment made her furious.
"This notion that boys can never hurt, that they can never feel, is so damaging to them long term," Primak Sullivan pointed out, Refinery 29 reports. "This pressure to always 'man up' follows them into adulthood, where they struggle to fully experience the broad scope of love and affection," she further stated in her post.
The mother slammed how society has bred "toxic masculinity" with this kind of thinking. Despite what was said to her in that basketball game with her son, Primak Sullivan believed it's okay to let boys cry if they need to do it; it's not a sign of weakness.
Experts have said the same thing about men suppressing their tears as it doesn't help them deal with their anxiety better. "The idea that 'real men don't cry' can prevent men from accessing the help that they need," mental health expert Stephen Buckley said, via Telegraph.
Crying is a form of reaching out when one needs help and men are not infallible to emotional stress or mental issues. It's also one way of teaching young boys to be emotionally honest, according to New York Times.
What do you think, parents? Do you encourage your sons to cry and speak about their feelings? Share your thoughts in the comments!
