Posts
Dear She-
A very interesting passage you have shared. I will quote it again for those just tuning in. "As a society we associate nurturing behaviors with weakness and our culture rewards strength. A man who is caring towards children is considered less masculine and so less valuable, according to his peers, as a member of society. This is where the tired cliché of "woman's work" turns on its head. Not that only women should care for children but that caring for children is a skill or capacity that is squashed in men from a young age. It is societal and until we begin to help boys grow up whole, we will never have men in younger classrooms."
I can't say that I agree entirely with the passage. Here is my point of view. I don't believe that society associates nurturing behaviors with weakness. If that were so then society would necessarily be disparaging of women, as "nurturing" is something that is intrinsic to the nature of a woman, in as much as a woman is the primary nurture-giver in relation to her children. I don't believe that our society (and when I say society I mean American society, and I assume that this passage intends the same meaning) views women as weak, so, this premise that society associates nurturing behavior with weakness must be a false premise. I also do not believe that in our society a man who is considered to be nurturing is considered to be less valuable... in fact I believe that our society gives much recognition to men who are nurturing unlike many foreign societies in today's world where machismo and male domination are looked upon as the greatest of virtues.
So in essence, I don't believe that the virtue of nurturing is squashed in young boys from a young age, I believe that it is simply never relayed to them effectively. Now, I do believe that in our American society there does tend to be a squashing of many more naturally masculine virtues... but perhaps this is a different point of discussion. You see, a good man, in my view, must have both...
-He
Padre Pio
3 days ago
