big boys cry

The man. So much is expected of him, he's expected to tell funny jokes, run into fires, open jam jars, and he's not even allowed to sob a tear at The Notebook.

Us females have it hard but In some ways it's easier, if society expects us to shave our legs and cook. In our act of defiance, we can throw away our razors and eat a takeaway.

Anger makes us feel powerful. 

At least as a female, if we get demoralised we can fight against it, we may get labelled mouthy bra-burning feminists, but there is this thrill of not giving a f*ck.

For men it’s different, they are expected to be emotionless and brave. How do they fight against that? They have to let down their barriers. Going against social norms is synonymous with anger and power. Crying, isn’t the first thing that comes to mind.

The uncomfortable truth is that banter and a stiff-upper lip could actually kill a man. With 80% of suicides being males under-50, when our culture builds up the expectations so high it’s easier to be a failure than a success.

There is an expectation that men should rub some dirt in it and get on with it. Since when have our granddads, boyfriends and friends become these super humans, who aren’t allowed to show emotion.

We feel it’s time for the world to change what we expect of men. They too need a shoulder to cry on.

Our latest collection, “big boys don’t cry”, features Joe Shields.

A creative who lives in London.

He has a project called “To be a man" (@whatisman), which is a personal project come social experiment, it questions how men perceive their own role of masculinity within the world.

words - liberty

photos - pip jay

boy - joe