As someone deeply passionate about healing, parenting, and emotional truth, I couldn’t ignore the growing disparity between society’s push for girl empowerment and its quiet neglect of the boy child.
When we talk about empowerment and emotional strength, we often centre the girl child, and rightfully so, in many ways. But there's a silent crisis that deserves attention: the emotional suppression of boys from a young age.
This episode of This is My Voice with Lora Tia explores the cultural, emotional, and psychological impact of what I call the “emasculation of the male child.”
What does it truly mean when we tell boys to “man up”? If telling a girl to speak up is acceptable and empowering, why is it radical to grant a boy the same freedom?
It’s the subtle messages we send.
“Stop crying.”
“Be a man.”
“Don’t act like a girl.”
They seem harmless, but these words teach little boys that emotional expression is weakness, and that vulnerability is shameful. That silence equals strength. But this isn’t toughness, rather it’s emotional isolation.
When emotional needs go ignored in their formative years, boys grow into men who don’t know how to identify their feelings, let alone express them. We end up with generations of men who carry inward grief, shame, and confusion… and are told to “get over it.”
The question this series intends to address is: Can We Raise Confident Boys Without Shaming Emotion?
Yes, but it takes intention. Boys need to be given permission to feel, to ask for help, and to speak their views without judgment. They need to be guided, not hardened, through their development.
If we want stronger, healthier, more emotionally intelligent men… we need to start with how we raise boys. Let’s raise children who don’t have to recover from their childhood, and know that voice, softness, and strength can and should coexist.
If you’re a parent, teacher, caregiver, or someone healing from a childhood where you weren’t allowed to feel, this episode is an invitation.
Listen to Episode 1 of the Reclaiming Boyhood Series and join the conversation.
Because EVERY child deserves a voice. Every adult deserves healing. And every generation deserves better than what we inherited.
Listen Now + Share
https://anchor.fm/s/2a63a2c/podcast/rssIf this episode resonated with you, share it with someone raising boys or healing from their own boyhood.