blog post#3 "The Male Myth"

In the reading "The  male Myth" Theroux says that be a man means "be stupid, be unfeeling, obedient and soldierly, and stop thinking"(101). In other words to prove your self a man or masculine a person is restricted from showing his emotions and feelings. The person should fit the criteria of society of being a man which doesn’t allow a man to freely express himself or show his emotional side. A person is judged by the society from every aspect of his life even his job is considered a an adding factor towards his masculinity. Like Theroux states in the novel that he wanted to be a writer but was having problem occupying it because “there was a fear that writing was not a manly profession”(103). In other words he wasn’t able to do the job even when he wanted to because it was considered feminine at that time. In order to prove him self he had to suppress his will. This shows that men sometimes are not able to even make decisions of their life freely. They always have to keep society’s reactions and opinion in mind while making their personal decisions. Although they get more privileges but  the responsibilities of a being a man weighs more than the privileges they get. We expect them to be strong in every situation and not break down emotionally and mentally like a woman can. On the other hand we also expect them to sensitive towards certain issues. This somehow don't allow them to be themselves which is not fair.