Men in western culture make me so sad. The loneliness is so strong. And we are doing it *to ourselves*. Men refuse connection with other men even so far as a smile on the sidewalk.

All it would take is refusing to be afraid of being seen as gay, weak, or feminine.

And this is important to everyone! When men can have strong, kind friendships with other men, suddenly women arent their only source of emotional support. When men can smile at other men, women smiling at men is no longer an invitation to harassment.

When women dont have to be afraid of men incorrectly viewing every social interaction as a romantic/sexual invitation, men who are romantically/sexually interested in women have higher chances of fulfilling connection. And if they strike out they still have friends!

Guys are in a prison of our own making and at any time we can put down the trowel and stop laying bricks.

Its okay to have feelings. Its okay to be kind. Its okay to be tender. Yes, with other men! Whether you are queer or not! And if you are, who cares!

And to those who worry that behaving in a soft way will make women less interested:

For every woman with some shitty homophobic thing to say about it, there are forty women cooing over pictures of men cuddling with kittens. Seriously. It is not a concern.