I want to start off that I don't really believe people are weak but I do believe people have gone through different things and there are some things people can or cannot get over. But I think it's too reductive and too easy just to call somebody weak because we don't know what they've been through

For example I have been shot at and have my life threatened. That does not keep me up at night. My father abandoning us and leaving me and my disabled brother alone to fend against the wolves does.

You could call me weak but at that point we have to identify what weakness is. Are you perceived this week because you stay up at night from whatever trauma you've went through.

And if that is true the surviving gunshots and beating up people who threaten you count as being strong?

And if that is also true? Is it the fact that it is bothering you that makes you weak or that it happened?

Of course I don't think of it in terms like that but a lot of people seem to see masculinity in a lot of one and done things or in a zero sum style.

Like if a man walks inside a store with a purple dress a lot of people may call him weak and unmanly.

But this is something that I've always hated. If that same man went out and started bench pressing 200 pounds or beat up a world famous boxer, would he get his man points back.

It really doesn't matter because this type of reasoning is so stupid and arbitrary because there's no accurate way to measure this type of thing

what sparked us off was I had a conversation with someone who swore up and down that sensitivity was weakness and he thinks people like that are weak and I counted him by saying that I always have been sensitive and I was also beating up adult abusers because they made the mistake of coming at me when I was a kid.

I go on to say that I am 6 ft 6 and 230 lb and I could probably beat him up.

Now granted I don't plan on beating anybody up and I don't want to but I only said that because I was trying to undo his crazy logic.

By his logic he sees me as weak but through all my experiences that can't be true because a weak person by his definition should not be standing up for themselves especially against older adults.

And you can do this with any man's life journey as I'm pretty sure most men go through some version of doing something traditionally masculine.

As soon as I text him that he goes off saying that just because I'm big doesn't mean anything and he could beat me up

Ironically he just made himself out to be exactly what he thought I was which is an insensitive weakling

The sad part is I don't think he's a weakling. But this type of thing is so ingrained even in men that it's hard to argue against because the moment you start arguing is the moment you fail

Like is that skinny kid down the street really a weakling because you only see him that way?

If you found out that that same kid was practicing karate all the time and was in some type of secret fight club, would you still think he's weak?

The right answer should be neither.

But as an open sensitive am big and muscular man this is the one thing I have always hated because it's so hard to argue against

You could be an emotional wreck and crying your eyes out and still kill a tiger as a man.

Being sensitive does not wash out any other traits