photo: Ashton Jean-Pierre
But whatever you’re envisioning – whether it’s rooted in the powerful, the paternal, or both – is crying anywhere in that mental image you’re conjuring up? Do you think of ‘masculinity’ and immediately see tears streaming down a man’s cheeks, hear him breathing in heaping gulps, see his shoulders heaving, watch his upper-body buckle over, feel him fall to his knees?
For far too long in Africa, the answer to that question has been a resounding ‘no’ – punctuated by a decisive ‘never.’
No, tears do not belong on a male’s face. No, grief is not masculine. No, vulnerability is not a preferred male trait.