Male vs Female?

A friend of mine shared this on Facebook, and after I read it, I just had to say something. This is something that has been brewing for a long while, and after certain recent events, I'm starting to see that it's not just me that feels this way. Our society needs to be taught to think correctly. And sometimes I have days where I can't see how we can change these things - I feel like we need to wipe the slate and start afresh with a whole new community. And other days, I feel like all we need is a push. All we need is enough voices trying to change the way we think. These changes are slowly happening, like the sun peeking over the horizon. All we need to do now is keep pushing, keep the movement going, and maybe one day, we can live in a society where we are all equals, regardless of gender or race or earnings.

It's a nice thought, and one I'm sure I will return to again. Anyway, here is my response to the above picture:

"We raise boys to be strong and protective. We teach them that being vulnerable is only for girls, that they have to be emotionless otherwise they're not a man. We tell them they have to be successful. They have to be the bread-winner, they have to be better than the girls, otherwise they are less.

We teach men shame - close your mouth if you have something bothering you, just suffer in silence. We teach them that they are a danger to girls, that they are the enemy. We make them feel as though by being born male they are committing a crime. And so boys grow up into men who cannot allow themselves to be human, to make mistakes. They grow up to be men who silence themselves. They grow up to be men who cannot say what they truly feel. And they grow up - and this is the worst thing we do to our children - girls and boys alike - they grow up to be adults who turn pretence into an art form.

We have founded our society on this - it abounds in our advertising, in our jobs, in our government, in our schools and in our homes. We are teaching ourselves again and again that we are different - when we are not. Male or female, every person should have the chance to choose for themselves who they want to be."