08-16-2012, 10:05 AM
Maybe this is the self confidence sub or just me. But lately I've been feeling more confident in a way to tell it like it is, regardless of what others might think. Something I've always struggled with is the idea of masculinity, for a while I thought it was what the tough guys in movies were like, which isn't true. Because movies are just that, fiction, all those actors smile, are open, friendly, when the cameras are off. Maybe not all the time, but they leave their acting behind.
That's something I developed over the years. I've been acting, putting on a mask, to hide how I truly felt inside. Well the truth is I'm a sensitive guy and people scare me. I've been cold, non-emotional, stuffed up emotionally in the past, and all it brought me was internal rage which consequently led to depression. I was a really angry kid in high school, some of my friends would often comment on how I looked ready to beat someone up. At the time that's all I knew to address all those feelings of being scared and fearful, because acknowledging those feelings was less manly.
Also in society it seems more and more men are being assigned the negative traits, we are first assumed guilty and them must prove our innocence. No wonder so many guys these days are so screwed up, we're being systematically taught to be ashamed of being men. But it's the poor caricature of men that others see, not real men. And it's even more shameful that if you bring this to other's attention you get the brush off and the snide remark to "man up". I'm sure there are a lot of men that are hurting out there because they subconsciously think "all men are dogs".
I've been through the alpha set twice. My first run through I had a stereotypical image of an alpha male that I was reluctant to become. After I was done I realized I was still myself, just better. So the second time I ran through it I started to realize that most men really don't have a good idea of what masculinity truly is. It's not big muscles, how many girls you can screw, how aggressive you are, etc. It's about virtue, honesty, speaking your mind, being your own individual person and not caring what others think, and understanding that above all it's a mindset. A mindset that sadly isn't being taught properly or developed in men today.
That's something I developed over the years. I've been acting, putting on a mask, to hide how I truly felt inside. Well the truth is I'm a sensitive guy and people scare me. I've been cold, non-emotional, stuffed up emotionally in the past, and all it brought me was internal rage which consequently led to depression. I was a really angry kid in high school, some of my friends would often comment on how I looked ready to beat someone up. At the time that's all I knew to address all those feelings of being scared and fearful, because acknowledging those feelings was less manly.
Also in society it seems more and more men are being assigned the negative traits, we are first assumed guilty and them must prove our innocence. No wonder so many guys these days are so screwed up, we're being systematically taught to be ashamed of being men. But it's the poor caricature of men that others see, not real men. And it's even more shameful that if you bring this to other's attention you get the brush off and the snide remark to "man up". I'm sure there are a lot of men that are hurting out there because they subconsciously think "all men are dogs".
I've been through the alpha set twice. My first run through I had a stereotypical image of an alpha male that I was reluctant to become. After I was done I realized I was still myself, just better. So the second time I ran through it I started to realize that most men really don't have a good idea of what masculinity truly is. It's not big muscles, how many girls you can screw, how aggressive you are, etc. It's about virtue, honesty, speaking your mind, being your own individual person and not caring what others think, and understanding that above all it's a mindset. A mindset that sadly isn't being taught properly or developed in men today.
