Dear men. It is manly to read books. It is manly to wear cute clothes. It is manly to care for your kids. It is manly to relax sometimes. It is manly to do housework. It is manly to love yourself. It is manly to cry, to feel, to BE human. Allow yourself that, please. You have my permission to be human. And if you don’t want it to be manly, it doesn’t have to be. It can be a multitude of things because manliness doesn’t define you. YOU define you. That’s kind of your whole job.

If you can't feel like a man in a ribbon and a pink tutu, you have to work on your self esteem.

Every day men are told what real men should be. Don't be a real man. Be your OWN man.

The social pressure on men to tick off a list of definitions of "manly" is such BS. There's no such thing as a man card, and there's no shame in liking (or dislking) anything.

Having to constantly reinforce what society tells you is your place in life,is the sign of a weak and insecure person.

I thought that men are gay if they only like to have relationship with men. I don't see what that has to do with books. Does not compute. However this post also confuse me. I always thought am a hetero woman but according to all these biases I should be a gay man as I prefer my partner to read, not be violent, be open about feelings and try some nice clothes. Does it make me than a trans man?

This is so heartbreaking and beyond frustrating. Men are allowed to feel vulnerable. Men are allowed to express emotions like sadness and grief. Men are allowed to Men are allowed to enjoy artistic pursuits. Men are allowed to dress in a way that makes them feel good and empowered. Men are allowed to use words to end a conflict instead of fight. Men are allowed to do housework and enjoy caring for their children. Men are allowed to be HUMAN BEINGS with emotions.

It wasn't until I was in my late 30s that I started to wear pink. Now it's the best color for me. I feel more confident, I crush it in meetings, I wish I found this sooner. Men, wear pink!

Interesting that it's considered "girly" to read books when women were once burned for even knowing how.

Tbf the most manly thing you can do is not give a f*** what other people think

Good on you. You're right and I'm ashamed of women who also add to that pressure. Be you! Many of us are on your side.

A 'big girl's blouse' for not liking a sport? That is a really confusing insult.

Its so much easier to get though life with a nihilistic point of view though. Emotions and emotional responses in the way way too much

Are you a man? Are you doing something? Then it's in a "manly" way. End of. Anyone who says otherwise needs to be told off.

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And the constant pressure to not have “toxic masculinity” is a major stressor. It’s hard being a guy nowadays. Saying that not only as a guy, but because I see it all the time where society basically wants to neuter men and/or get rid of them because of the volatile anger posted on a daily basis.

Yeah... I'm s**t at handling rejection. I just run away and eat pizza.

The old "when a girl says no she's *playing* hard to get" toxic mythe.

Women deserve pockets PERIOD.

I'm straight and I like to do my hair and wear markup. I also look smashing in a black miniskirt. Does that make me gay? No it makes me sexy AF.

WE LOVE LAFORGE!!

EXACTLY! But poor Robin

Lol this man got a business card to tell you just how hard you can go f**k off.

YES. THIS.

I do that too and I'm a girl

Upvote for cartoon kitty who is basically me.

I love fruit cocktails!

How sweet! :D

Ok, this post made me soft. I'd give literally anything for that.

Hey, I'm a former child too!!

Louder for the people at the back!

I had a friend whose husband told her to man up while she was giving birth. She bit him on the hand.

Not all bodies can do that, even if you put in the effort.

Toxic masculinity hurts everyone, including men. It's called "toxic" for a reason.

I love the message that although Thor was going through a ton of grief and guilt, despite the fact that he’d been dealing with depression and subsequently weight gain, he was still worthy.

Oh...

Never understood this. I used to sub for an exgf who was a dom at playshows. I'm OK being seen seen in public but NOT OK being recorded and posted on the web. Most places like that make you check your phone at the door these days.

I'm gay, so I can't really comment on the accuracy of this.

There's a ute (pick up truck) someone drives around here with a big bumpersticker on the back that says "It ain't weak to speak" and I love it so much.

Don't worry Mike Wendowski you're cooler than Karen will ever be

Why did I act out every one of these. I am a girl

Really curious what the censored "H" word is.

She looks like she wants to fall asleep in every picture

This is sad, but then the only compliments I ever get from men have been about what I look like, never anything of substance. Maybe we should all compliment each other more. But genuinely so it's meaningful.

Just when my day was going great, I drove my car into a lake :(

I’ve always lived under the philosophy of ‘if they don’t like the real you when you reveal it in meeting them, they wouldn’t like the real you when you reveal it after being friends for a while’. It’s worth just being yourself as and when you meet someone, rather than waste the energy on someone who eventually won’t like you.