I guess western society has given men the expectation that they are to be more reserved, and internal with their emotions to convey a sense of strength and toughness, and that is supposed to be attractive to women. Supposedly, on some primal level, a strong and tough man is seen as a more desirable mate, and possesses good qualities that women are wanting to pass on to their offspring. However, we are infinitely more complex when it comes to choosing our romantic partners. So many more variables come into play when a person seeks out another for a relationship.

I hate that because of some age old stereotype, that men feel they need to be tough, strong, rugged, and emotionally distant in order to be even remotely considered masculine enough to pursue a woman, or to be considered manly in general. Like I said, we are very complex we human beings, and we all have a set of emotions. Sure, some of us may be more attuned than others to these emotions (with some feeling completely detatched from them altogether and yet others on the opposite side of the spectrum), but in general we all feel them in some way or another.

I just feel that masculine stereotype is very much dated and that today's man should not be afraid to openly feel. This may sound strange coming from a woman, especially one who at one time was trying to convince herself that all men are unfeeling, uncaring, emotionless robots, (this was at a time when a guy had upset me greatly and I was in a real emotional upheaval), but I would like to see guys who aren't afraid to break the stereotype of the emotionally distant, masculine man. To be bold enough to say "Hey, I'm a human being with feelings, not a robot."

I guess my point here is, I want to see how right I am in knowing that men feel emotions just like I, as a woman, do. Maybe this thread is silly, maybe it's been written because I've been hopped up on caffeine again and haven't slept since 8 or so yesterday (Saturday) morning. If it is overly silly, you have my apologies.