You ever hear lines like 'God, that isn't very manly', 'Just be a man', 'That's not a real man', and are just completely over it?

Besides the various gender stereotypes, and socially-constructed norms the world bludgeons females with, males too have their fair share of gender expectations. 

As people move into a more progressive view on all things gender and equality, we decided to take this time and highlight sections of a box, males get put into, as means to fit in. 

Via a post on IG, these are the few things we need to stop telling boys and men, as they grow up. 

#1 You can't cry, you're a man.

Crying is normal. Every human being does it and every human being is entitled to it. Just because a man cries, that doesn't suddenly mean he is no longer a man. That doesn't even make sense. 

#2 How can you not have facial hair?

Some men don't have facial hair, and that is okay. Facial hair doesn't determine who you are as a person. Society seems to have an obsession with hair. It is JUST hair, take a goddamn seat. 

#3 You're so short for a man. 

Okay, does every man need to be 7ft and above? Everyone is different in their own unique way. At which point, did we go and decide that being tall was a box to check, when being a man?

#4 Stop being a sissy, be a man. 

Men can be emotional, sensitive and affectionate beings. Wearing your heart on your sleeve doesn't mean you're weak. It means you're strong and you aren't afraid to be vulnerable at any possible moment. 

#5 Where are your muscles?

There is a stark difference between the perfect body, and the perfect-body-construed-by-society. Being jacked up with muscles doesn't mean a man is more man, than one who doesn't have that. 

#6 How big are you?

His penis doesn't determine how much of a man he is. It is literally nothing more than a genital. A small dick doesn't equate a small man. It is JUST a small dick, and that is NORMAL. 

#7 Stop being soft, be a man

Just because some men out there do not behave like the majority of men out there, it in no way means that he is lesser of a man. The majority isn't right, the majority is simply just what we're used to. Remember that. 

It is 2021, and besides understanding that gender are merely labels which are not as important to some, it is vital we educate generations to come that who they are, and how they are to people isn't defined by body parts. 

Standards shouldn't be upheld based on gender. They should be upheld based on the impact we leave behind.