“Being a man” calls for a blankness that doesn’t fit the rich sensitivity, humor, creative power, abiding compassion, intelligence, and beauty of men. Anyone who’s raising a little boy will tell you that this one is the sweetest boy who ever existed. All that kindness, affection, and curiosity that so readily bursts out of little boys’ hearts is exactly what men are taught to smother if they want to be taken seriously in the world.
