And why can’t men cry?

For most, a crying man is either a source of incredulity or a cause of immense concern. A man crying is a weakness, unnatural, and unseemly, and this is drilled into a man’s brain right when they are a young child, with the hopes that they’ll grow up to be a hunk of a man. This thought is what Arz Hai aims to challenge through “Cry Like A Man”, compiled by Abhishek Dutta Chowdhury.

The importance of this topic is highly ignored, and for those who would like to believe that this isn’t about feminism, it is. Patriarchy and a misogynist mindset aren’t just harmful for women; it is harmful for men first. Before restricting women, they restrict men. They ask men to ignore their pain, hurt, happiness, sadness, and shove them in an endless pit from which only anger can escape. This becomes an endless cycle where the meaning of the word “man” eventually takes a cold and monstrous form, expecting other men to become the same way.

Arz Hai pleads with every reader to allow their men to cry. Allow them to get in touch with their emotions, with the softer part of their human experience. To accept the anima along with the animus.