Emma Hardy contributed this brilliant portrait ‘Robbie, Africa 2004’ to TCPM in May. She writes:
“Are all young boys allowed to be angry, sad, raging; are they all allowed to cry?
Even if they are, the moment comes when those emotions start to be
repressed by society’s expectations, contained by the social
constructions of our so-called civilised, modern western world.
What happens to young men, who become adult men, who miss out on all that emotive expression?
What happens to the boys and young men who are taught to contain and
repress their anger or sadness; told that strong emotions are not
welcome, that they’re weak, or aggressive, & plainly inappropriate?
Much of modern man’s expected behaviour relies on holding
basic emotions like anger and frustration in check, keeping them under a lid.
Healthy initiation into the masculine no longer exists.
It hasn’t for generations.
Doesn’t society need to change?”
***SOLD as part of our charity auction in May at the Getty Images Gallery in London. We raised over £17.000 for the charity CALM who are helping to prevent male suicide in the UK and helping to redefine what it is to ‘be a man’.
