Thinking Out Loud, Volume CCCLXXIX

A few weeks ago I was honored to be a guest speaker in a class at a church across town. I spoke about some things that were very personal to me, and a couple times during my presentation, my voice broke. I know I shouldn't have been, but I was a little embarrassed by that. You see, I grew up in Nebo, Louisiana and now live in Duck Dynasty country, places where men are tough and act like men. It seems to me that there is a movement across our nation and even the world to try to, for lack of a better word, "feminize" men. I don't like that, and I don't think the majority of the population does either. At the same time, with the tremendous increase we now have of women holding public office, there is even pressure on them not to shed tears in public. As a general rule, however, it is much more acceptable in our society for a woman to cry than it is for a man. With all of that said, I do believe it is now becoming increasingly okay for men to show emotions in public, and I do like that. When John Boehner first became Speaker of the House in 2010, his voice broke several times during his first big speech, and for a while, he had to deal with being called a cry baby, but that was mostly coming from his political opponents. The same people who were calling him names would have defended a man from their own party if he had cried while speaking. I dare say that any man who is reading this article has had to fight back tears numerous times since becoming an adult, which means he understands when he sees another man choking up while trying to speak. Men will likely never be as prone to tears as women because we're wired differently, the way God designed us. However, I also believe that much of the pressure we face today as it relates to showing our emotions in public is "man-induced"...not "God-induced." In other words, my embarrassment for the tears during my speech was due to the fact that I was afraid it made me look weak. I've given it a lot of thought since then, though, and I think I'm beginning to gain a new perspective on that issue. It takes a man who is secure in his masculinity to cry in public without intimidation. There's no reason for me to feel any type of humiliation simply because I may have shed a tear or two, because I AM secure...and I'm tough. After all, I'm from Nebo. Preston