I AM A MAN – ?

 

Am I a man?

Just because I have a penis and an Adam’s apple?

Am I a man just because society tells me so?

Or because “mister” precedes my name.

You would think by the doctor exclaiming “it’s a boy!”

I would automatically grow up to be a man.

In this case, I am a man.

But am I a man?

Is this the case?

Who is a man?

According to you?

“Sometimes I wake up feeling the weight

The pressure is too much to bear

What do you want from me?

You remind me every single day

A man must do this and that

A man cannot have emotions because it makes him weak

A man cannot have a female friend because …

He has a meat and whenever a meat meets meat …

Well I am tired of being your proconsul”

The blah-blah-blah of society sings like sirens

Tie me to a ship already so like Odysseus, I can withstand its sweet melody

What about the man I want to be?

A responsible man who respects women and doesn’t take them for granted

A respectable man who is responsible for his family and is not expected to follow the status quo of abandoning them and leaving his wife a single mother.

A reputable man who can have female friends and not have people look down on him because he is not fucking them

What is a man to you I ask?

One who makes you feel unwanted, disrespected and unappreciated?

One who cannot be controlled and deems you beneath him?

One who cares about his image more than himself?

A puppet, a Muppet or a Ken doll?

Isn’t the measure of a man one without strings?

Yes!

One who cries moans laughs and fears?

A super protector

A man with a purpose

A man with a drive,

Who makes you feel like an A6.

A man is a beverage.

Not just a six pack

A man is a bottle of respect – hard and solid

His content – smooth and crisp

His taste – tried and true

An experience – unique to each

As he touches your soul and meanders down your spine,

A feeling of calm and refresh

That is how a true man should make you feel

A real man will make you feel special

Having 10 women on speed dial doesn’t make you a real man

No!

It doesn’t make you masculine at all.

It makes you worn out and torn

Your sexuality – a question

A real man oozes power

The power of self-control

A real man has purpose

A real man buys his mother a car

And still makes sure it is washed on the weekends

A real man is a respecter

A real man is a leader not a follower

If you claim you are a real man, why then conform to what the boys are calling a man

Why not be your own man?

Why hide your aspirations?

Why be a crowd pleaser – an ass kisser?

Why hide your emotions?

Why say no homo when you really love a fellow man with all your heart.

After all aren’t we taught to “love your neighbor as yourself”

What do you fear? That your manliness will be questioned?

A man cares not what others think of him.

Ask Okwonkwo – ugly and feared!

At least he fought for what he believed in till the end.

A true man.

Can you say same with your changing lips?

No real man who changed the world ever cared for the thoughts of “cool kids”.

What business does a man have, pondering and bothering about kids anyway?

The cool kids after all, would someday work for his business and make him cool.

Hence he acts as a man

“I am a man”

He says…

That is what you should aspire for

So the question I ask today

…

Are you a man?