So I just had one of my sadly too common shouting matches with my dad where the 20 years of abuse that I had received from him violently surfaced verbally and in the middle of it I saw my life from an outsider's perspective and it left me confused about a lot of things in life. Coincidentally I was also watching this film called Chef and a major theme of that film is the bond of a father and a son and it made me think about what it means to be a man and how much of an impact having a good strong male role model has in a young boy's life.
Now I'm a gay man so I think that puts me even farther in the dark as to what it means to be a man in the traditional sense, because of brain chemistry and other factors like not being around other boys as child. I have no doubt in my mind that my relationship with my father has had a huge impact on me as a person. More than I would like to admit.
Sob story aside, I was really wondering, how have the male role models in your life impacted your development? Were you taught "how to be a man?" what do you interpret that to mean? What were you taught specifically? I don't even know if this is the right question to be asking to try to get closure on my own relationship with my dad but it's a start.
I hope to get some genuine responses, thanks.
[–]kempff3 points4 points5 points (1 child) | Copy Link
[–]speed3_freak1 point2 points3 points (0 children) | Copy Link