What does it mean to be a man? What does the word masculinity even mean? The definition of masculinity simply means to have the characteristics of a man by having qualities of strength and boldness. In today's society, young boys as young as the ages of three years old are already being pressured to fit the masculine profile. There are so many stereotypes out there that if you are seen doing the wrong thing, you may be labeled as being "gay ". What's wrong with society today is that people are being judged by not fitting the proper profile of a man and woman. If a high school boy would rather be in a school play rather than play football, he may live in fear of being called "gay" "or a "faggot ". .

             These stereotypical names can be so harsh that these young boys may to be too afraid to reveal who they truly are. Kids can be cruel, but the peer pressures do not just happen at school, it happens in the privacy of your own home as well. At a young age, kids fathers are constantly pressuring their sons to go and try out for the football or basketball team because its a sign of masculinity. If you're popular and well known in high school, and have done well for yourself in any sort of manly sport, then you have proven you are a man and have absolutely no traits of being feminine. The thing that is wrong with this picture is that stereotypes are so strong now a days that kids will believe anything they hear, thus living in fear of being labeled as the wrong thing. As sad as this sounds, it's the truth; children have to undergo so many obstacles just to be accepted in their community. People can be very cruel, but these children have it embedded in their heads that if they do not act all feminine or all masculine, then they may live their life being bullied or being labeled as something that is not true. .

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             One of the biggest peer pressures that I often see in schools are to either act all masculine or all feminine, but in this piece I will focus only on what it means to be masculine.