Something's in my eye
Do you like to cry? I have talked with people before who have said they love to cry. “Nothing like a good cry!” right? But gosh do I hate it. I avoid scary movies for the same reason I think. I am human and do not like to be scared, so why the hell would I watch something that makes me feel terrified?
I do not cry because I do not want to be sad. Easy, done, end of post.
Not quite. I think that is the main reason why I choose not to cry. It makes sense to me. Being sad sucks so why would I want that? I could relive the moment I got a Nintendo 64 for Christmas and was ecstatic, or I could relive the moment I got into a car accident. Which seems better?
But could decades of living in our modern world as a cis-male have dried up my tear reserves?
If you did not grow up as a male, I will let you in on something. Men are taught throughout our lives that they should not cry. Emotions are for the weak. You cannot go out and hunt a boar if you are in bed crying all the time. Women will not find you attractive if you are sniffling and sobbing. Does Trump cry? Does Logan Paul shed a tear when he gets wedgied? I bet Andrew Tate only cries when he pees his pants. Men do not cry…
According to whom? When was the last time you needed to go hunt boar? Maybe bore-dom, but certainly not Pumbaa. So where do we look for a male role model? It should be someone who is easily accessible to everyone. It should be someone who has withstood the test of time. Someone who can kick ass and then cry. And you know who could kick the ass of Andrew Tate? Mother f*cking Aragorn.
I could go on for ages about what makes Aragorn an amazing male role model. Near the end of the first Lord of the Rings movie, Aragorn finds himself face to face with a horde of monsters. And what does he do? He stands his ground, he fights, he wins.
In the aftermath of the battle, Aragorn is comforting a friend. A dying friend. And Aragorn cries. Not weeping tears, not uncontrollably, but he cries. And of course he does! He just lost someone he respected, someone who cared for, a brother in arms.
He is not afraid to cry. Aragorn does not care about being manly. He does not try to repress his emotions. Shoving them so far down that they practically do not exist anymore. He lets them out because that is just a part of life.
Crying sucks. It is not fun. But it does not hurt you. You will not be harmed afterwards or during. No one should come and tell you to stop crying, to “man-up”. Because Aragorn can cry after killing some monsters. So why can’t you cry after you’ve killed yours?
