I highly recommend every one of my friends, especially the men, to watch this Ted talk.

Too often in society, especially in patriarchal cultures (Punjab, India, Pakistan, etc.) boys are taught from the get-go to be “manly”, not “act like girls”, be “brave”. In doing this, they learn to internalize some very serious emotions in fear that their peers may deem them too feminine or weak (because girls are meant to be weak right? lol).

How many times have we heard these phrases said ONLY to boys. there’s nothing wrong with a little encouragement but there is a problem when it’s solely done to the male gender. Girls are allowed to cry and share their feelings of doubt, confusion, and insecurities but when a boy does it, it’s considered taboo.

Point being, it’s okay to feel emotions, it’s okay to cry, it’s okay to let it all out. It doesn’t make you weak; in fact showing the world that you’re vulnerable is actually an act of courage. Justin Baldoni hits the nail on the head with this one. A lot of mental health problems stem from an early age and we need to tackle how we acknowledge the treatment of the sexes in order to decrease serious issues later on in life.