Amos Kelvin-Annan, Convener- Mobilising Males Initiatives, has emphatically stated that most men are afraid to show their emotions.
According to him, a lot of men are afraid of showing emotions because they fear society will call them and refer to them as not men enough to handle tasks.
In an interview with Nana Yaw Odame on e.tv Ghana’s Men’s Lounge show, Mr. Kelvin-Annan said, “If they’ll show any emotions at all they’ll show anger and frustration. But the others like sorrow and shedding tears is what they won’t show. A lot of them feel shedding tears makes them feel less of themselves and are compared to women because they are known to shed tears”.
He asserted that the comparison between men and women has forced them (men) to suck in their concerns and views even if they can contribute to it.
“These things are adversely impacting us and these things have gradually stolen their way into our belief systems. Some of them are actually myths which have not interrogated, we have just taken them as it is,” he said.
He believes that there is also a need for the men to do a sober reflection to know which of the things around masculinity are inimical to their own health, and to the health of the people around them and to the environment they create.
“If we don’t do that, we might not be able to live because things have changed and are not like before,” he charged.
By: Gyamfuah Owusu-Ackom