real men

[quattro]

where are all the real men gone I watched that Pop Stars programme last night and saw the last ten men drowning in a sea of tears on stage 60years ago they would have been dodging bullets on the D Day landings is it a sign of the times?

[Hippy]

Those lads dodging the bullets were hyped up on propaganda and patriotism, as well as being told from toddlerhood that "real men don't cry" that is show "womanly" emotioins. Thankfully, this emotional guilt trip has largely gone the way of the obligatory short back and sides and other repressive programming.

I did not see the TV programme to which you refer but can't imagine that the lads there were very much different to their predecessors in WWII.

A lot of lads died in the first twenty minutes of arriving on the Normandy beaches, and a overwhelming majority of the survivors have wept buckets over lost pals or just lost life since then.

Let's hope that the lessons of the waste of war will be learned and that such bloodshed can be avoided in the future. I doubt it somehow, it never stopped the folly of mankind in the past.

I'd much rather have a shed load of crying lads at a pop contest than see just one of them being shot to ribbons by an unseen assailant and to die face down in a salty puddle on the margin of a foriegn land, their life's blood ebbing unseen into the vast ocean; diluted forever.

[quattro]

great answer hippy I personally think it's great to cry but I do wonder sometimes that TV seems to engineer occasions like last night to get the tear ducts running big time and you have to wonder is it worthy of our tears when there are so many other bad things happening in the world that do not get our emotions even stirred

[PaulYukochan]

Maybe they have gone the same way as full-stops and other punctuation marks?

[sft42]

Personally i'm in the process of splitting up with a partner of eight years and i've shed enough tears to float the titanic. Does this make me any less of a man? The atmosphere these days is that it's more acceptable for men to show emotion is surely to be welcomed as it hopeful will allow men to show the better emotions like love and tenderness easier without fear of being ridiculed or labeled a jessie for shedding a tear, and this maybe will make us a little more understanding and tolerable to live with though we'll probably still leave the toilet seat up and not do our share of the housework at least it's a start.

[flirty41]

I agree with everyone. I'd rather a man showed his emotions, so that troubles and worries could be shared, rather than bottle it up and try to pretend to be 'strong'. What's the point in that? It doesn't get you anywhere and probably makes things worse. sft42 - you have my sympathies - keep your chin up! You seem like a great guy!