A good friend and I were conversing yesterday about men and their emotions and how the community as a whole deal with the issue.Firstly I think Men in comparison to women  do not have equal shelters or support systems and networks.....A lot of Men are very angry and vocal about this as they should be,the thing is they could harness this anger into a more pro active way....I think they could get in and create or join existing groups and lobby for more solutions for these issues.Womens support systems did not just appear out of the blue,they were fought for ,campaigned for and shouted out at the top of their lungs for........Women years ago were in a box only to be bought out and played with as desired,they were very nearly a sub species in some circumstances.This did not change by sitting in a corner crying and wringing their hands going woe is me....NO NO NO they got out and were pro-active thus we are in the position we are to-day.Now it is the Mens turn to stand  up and be heard.To all you Men out there who feel unsupported,get up off your seats and take action.                                                                                                                             I do feel that Men need to show their emotion and communicate more,being the big tough stoic he Man is a very archaic attitude and needs to addressed.In saying this I know that today Men are more communicative,but to get more support and shelters implemented into society they have to make the relevant powers take notice and see the need.My huge concern is the lack of knowledge and support out there for young teen Males and young Fathers/or mature.Males as a whole have a silent killer and this is depression,Women are very good at expressing their need for help with depressive problems.Men seem to have a habit of the She'll be right mate attitude.This is dangerous and for some reason it starts with males from an early age.The tuff nut syndrome as I call it.I have to wonder if it is planted as a seed in young boys only to grow into a tree bearing the fruits of poisonous kernels containing old ,outdated,dangerous feelings and thoughts that impede and halt our Males from seeking or admitting they need help.I would encourage all Dads and male/female relations family members to encourage male children fro an early age to show their emotions.When they fall down let them cry,when they have hurt feelings let them express themselves.I have personally witnessed Parents chastise a male child for crying and yet commend aggressive behaviour with the phrase "Oh he is a boy"there are even undertones of pride????? Stereotypical analyzing is pretty destructive when you think about it.Girls cry Boys get angry.......Girls get a hug Boys get a she'll be right mate get up your not hurt attitude.I think we should encourage all facets of emotion along with appropriate control skills.There should also be no gender stereotyping.
                     I feel if we can encourage and support our Male population now and from an early age to show and be comfortable with emotions perhaps they will be able to reach out for help when they need it instead of bottling it all up and either exploding or worse falling so far down they use suicide as an option.I feel our male population is needing our attention and support as a society,ugliness is perpetuated by both genders against each other there is no excusing either gender-abuse /mistreatment is wrong end of story.So the assignment today is to reach out to our males and give them a hug and perhaps some extra understanding.I know I will be thank-you regards and best wishes Merle