^^Having grown up with two brothers and an uncle not much older than we were, and observing their interactions among their friends, I noticed even in childhood that boys around 12 or so go through this phase where they want to add something like "the great" or "esquire" to their signatures and self-introductions. My brother took it a step further and signed his letters "the great king." Along with this attitude, I remember a friend of my brothers boasting to them, within my earshot, that he dumped his girlfriend because he had found out she's a virgin, and he wants a girl that will put out. Yeah, right. His voice hadn't even changed yet. "Oh, that's just boy talk," my mother dismissed it.

Disgusted me then. Disgusts me now. Why anyone would find "arrogant and self-centered" the least bit attractive, I can't figure out. Every time I encounter one of those, I thank God I am married to my husband and not them. He isn't hypermacho, only emotionally stunted. He is barely able to cry--I would have thought not at all, if it weren't for the cat, and that's the only time I've ever seen it in the six years we've been together--but at least he doesn't consider other men weak if they do. He knows he's the one with the issue, not them.

But let's bear in mind there are different situations being discussed here. One is simply not being emotionally inclined. For instance, I felt nothing watching movies like Titanic and Bridges of Madison County, when others around me were squalling their eyes out. It's another matter entirely to actually feel the urge to cry, but hold it in because "crying is a sign of weakness," and you seem to be advocating that, at least for men.