Patrick A. Coleman, ‘The Lessons in Emotional Intelligence Fathers Need to Teach Their Sons’, https://www.fatherly.com/health-science/the-lessons-in-emotional-intelligence-fathers-need-to-teach-their-sons/, Fatherly (Jun 02 2020)
Not being able to address emotions feeds into boys’ and men’s anxiety, stress, and ability to make long-lasting friendships. (…) At the heart of the matter is the lack of a healthy emotional vocabulary. (…) When fathers talk to boys it tends to be more about sports or activities. And less about developing an emotional vocabulary. (…) The culture tells boys that in order to be a real man you don’t show your emotions … except for anger. (…) You have to start building a vocabulary. Girls build that vocabulary together. Boys don’t. Parents play a very important role in helping kids develop the vocabulary. (…) Men don’t build friendships and support groups like women do. That’s not a biological reality, that’s a social reality. (…) We need to do what we need to do, but we need to validate our emotional lives as well. And that’s what boys aren’t taught. They aren’t taught to validate their emotional lives.