This year, I’m breaking the rules. I’m a man, dressed up as a man.
It was Halloween. It was a day when you can, within the limits of the law, employee handbooks, and what level of crap you are willing to take, be who you want or what you want.
I dressed as a man, dressed up as a real man.
Let’s pause for a minute.
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When you close your eyes and think of the words “real man”, what image comes to mind?
It depends on where you live, but I suspect it’s a suit and tie, jeans and a work shirt or t-shirt, maybe athletic gear. Something that you’d see on mainstream TV or in a magazine.
Or maybe an archetype, a tall dark lover or a muscle man, a uniformed man, a polished and revered leader, a leering threatening face.
It could be someone close to you, a friend or a companion, but most likely it’s going to be an image that corresponds to what you’ve been visually told a “real man” is over the course of your lifetime.
Pictures you’ve seen, whether they’re labeled good or bad, of what a “real man” looks like.
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So if I’m a man dressed up as a real man, what am I wearing?
The same thing I wear every day.
What do I wear every day, you ask?
Whatever I want.
Because there is no one way to look like a real man.
Photo courtesy of author
More from The Good Men Project:
6 Things Men Don’t Need to Be Ashamed Of
What’s a Dad to Do When His Daughter Wants to Dress as Han Solo (hint: it doesn’t make him any less of a man)
How to Tell If Your Child is Bullying Others (and What to Do About It)
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