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Man Flu
It turns out men are actually better at dealing with pain than women. I realise this runs contrary to the argument that if men had to go through the agony of childbirth the human race would have died out thousands of years ago but hey, studies say it’s true.And true it could well be. Though I can understand why women think we’re soft, given our propensity to roll around in agony at the first sign of the sniffles. Thing is, men can only admit to needing comfort when we’re ill. We actually need comfort much more often, but to admit so is to admit weakness – and that’s a very bad thing.
Being ill allows us to be needy. It allows us to say we’re not strong because something stronger than us – something stronger than anyone – has taken hold. So we really get into it. This is the one time we ask for our fevered brow to be mopped, for our aches to be soothed. This is the one time we ask to be taken care of.
Someday we may recognise that it’s okay to be a hero and to be weak. That we can be strong and vulnerable. That we can be brave and scared. Will probably take a few gender barriers to be broken first, though.