We celebrated Father’s Day recently—on June 20. Fathers were praised on social media for being strong, providers, role models and loving. It was easy to forget the rise in suicide cases, most of them men. What seems to be the problem yet men are seen by their children as role models and strong figures?
Our men choose to suffer in silence. They do not understand that it is okay to be weak sometimes. They go out of their way to provide for their families even when they do not have a regular source of income. We have heard of men who wake up and leave the house as if going to work yet they have no job.
Society expects men to be strong. They are expected to weather the storm and this pressure is killing them. Opening up is seen as a weakness. Men really do need to be celebrated because they make life worth living. Women and children should accommodate their husbands and fathers to avoid pushing them over the edge.
The campus girl also celebrated Father’s Day in style because these fathers are their ‘dzaddy’. Apart from caring and providing for the family, fathers have side chicks they provide for. They pay rent, upkeep and sponsor parties for their young girlfriends.
The men see the campus girl as understanding, less demanding and respectful compared to the wife. They keep side chicks for the peace, or to cool off after endless screeching and roaring from the spouse.
It seems there is no outlet for men other than cheating and drinking. The two are ‘wrong’ to everyone else who is not in the man’s shoe—men who see venting to a therapist as weakness.
Even though men are known to be hard-hearted, they are deeply emotional compared to women. They just do not like to show it because they are afraid of being stoned and judged. So let us celebrate them some more because they are heroes.
