It has been well known for some time in psychiatric circles that men in our culture have taken a serious hit to their egos and self-pride in recent decades. These are all very unfair and potentially damaging notions to a young boy or a middle-aged man. It's almost impossible to know nowadays whether you should shake a woman's hand when you meet her or piss on her shoes. This confusion is symptomatic of the how today, we American males are being constantly bombarded by mixed messages about what is acceptable masculine behavior and what is not. But at the same time, we are being told that things that were once considered feminine are now masculine.
Men can wear earrings now, and necklaces, and some even go so far as to have long hair.
Men can now use products that only women used when I was a child, like nail polish and shampoo and toothpaste. Plus, men are also seeing their bodies idealized and eroticized by the media, like women's are supposed to be. It is questions like these that are frightening to me. Making the right choice could put my son on the path to success, and making the wrong choice could get him labeled a fag. I get so nervous that I haven't spoken to my son in two years.