B.A.M
Growing up as a child, I don't recall much emphasis on being told 'Be A Man', later on as a teenager is when I realised just how much emphasis is given to it.
It always came through examples that were either sexist or homophobic, either as a warning or an insult because, as I came to understand later on as an adult, it's all about control and manipulation so as to fit a very particular construct and perpetrate the rot that is the patriarchy.
It's either you're 'A Man' or not and any deviation from that construct means you're seen through a lens of sexism - "don't be a p^ssy" or homophobia - "what are you, a f^ggot?".
I came to understand that bigotry and the patriarchy all go hand-in-hand with the saying... 'Be A Man'.
~ 🐨
come along with me and the butterflies and bees - Ashley Eriksson