Various Factors Explaining Why Boys are Boys and Men are Men :: Mens Health Male Roles Society Essays

Various Factors Explaining Why Boys are Boys and Men are Men This paper is going to describe various key factors explaining why boys are boys, men are men, and how boys adapt in this male dominant society to become men. Growing up in Pensacola Florida in a single parent home wasn’t something I wished are hoped for, but something I had to adapt to. My mother, even though she couldn’t be the male role model I needed, help me understand what roles I’m expected to take as a young man. â€Å"Let the boys be boys,† was a phrase used by hip hop legends â€Å"onyx† portraying a message that boys are going to be boys no matter what. So I ask my self what makes a boy, a boy? Rambo like characteristics? Muscles? Short hair? Wearing T-shirts and jeans or playing with sporting equipment? Well last I remember; the main characteristics that boys shared were penises. The role gender association play in the lives of our children can sometimes affect them negatively. The messages that gender roles send, is that in order to be part of society, you must fit into the norm trying to accomplish what society expects of you; But all the while, trying to incorporate individuality and establishing ones sense of self. Two conflicting ideas that can confuse a child and also alter the way they live their lives. There are two colors that are designated to babies that serve one purpose and one purpose only. Most infant boys were the color blue and girls wear pink. Seeing that it is difficult to determine the sex of an infant without general exposure to the genitals, most parents choose to clothe they’re young child in the respective colors so people will know whether it is a boy or a girl. After all, what male infant wears pink? When the children grow older, do they still continue the practice the color identification game? This is where it changes, When boys reach the age where they start dressing themselves and start buying their own clothes, they will continue to wear the blues and the greens and even yellows and reds, but not pink or violet, cause those are â€Å"girly† colors. Girls on the other hand, when they reach the same age still continue to wear the pink and violets and can even wear the blues, yellows, blacks, and greens. So why can girls make the â€Å"cross-over† without being teased or mocked but boys cant without being called a gay or a fagot.