There's not just one version of being a man

The standard expressions of masculinity in the West, the stereotypes. Don't ever sit on another man's bike. Are not only shallow and superficial and limiting and pretty adolescent, but most importantly, they're simply false. It's really important for young men to understand this because otherwise, they might think that their own personal expressions of themselves make them unmanly, and it doesn't. Look, being tough, being strong, being stoic, that's not all that men are.

I'll give you an example. Men do difficult, dangerous, physically strenuous tasks. We all agree that these are manly endeavors. But have you ever noticed that when men do difficult, dangerous, physically strenuous tasks throughout history and across cultures, they tend to sing? In fact, it turns out that men pretty much created every art form there is, from poetry to novels to cinema, from architecture to botanical gardens, to even fashion and the culinary arts.

Men have beautified the world and our lives in it, and all of this is an expression of masculinity. While researching something else, I came across a video that I think really epitomizes this multilayered nature of men. Watch these Indonesian security forces, like so many other soldiers around the world singing. There is nothing feminine about this. The masculine energy is explosive.

The training, the discipline, the strength, the sense of honor and pride, camaraderie and brotherhood are all on display. Everything about this demonstration is masculine and powerful. But the song that they're singing is a love song. The usual rendition of this song is delicate and tender, but it is transformed into a motivational, energizing, powerful training song, a marching song, a fighting song by these men. Don't oversimplify masculinity.

Don't reduce what men are. We are aggressive, and we are compassionate. We are tough, and we are refined. We are bold, and we are sensitive. We are springs of creativity, and we are soldiers.

There isn't one version of being a man.