A stable life inside ourselves often relies on recognizing, understanding and handling feelings well. It’s also dependant on responding effectively to the emotions of others. This process begs good cognitive and behavioural skills including motional awareness, expression, regulation, and empathy.

Society often paints men as emotionally unavailable, distant, or unresponsive, and it’s not uncommon to hear criticisms about how men just don’t open up. From relationships to friendships, men can be frequently labelled as the strugglers and stragglers in affairs of the heart who fail to connect with others on a deeper emotional level. But is this narrative entirely fair? While it’s easy to point fingers and say that men need to be more emotionally present, the reality is far more complex.

For generations, men have been taught to equate strength with silence and emotional control. While the up-and-coming gender-fluid generation might be shaking things up, the strong and silent male archetype with his reserved emotional circuitry still endures and has yet to fade completely.