Why not Men Get Sad Too?

When do boys become ‘men’? Is it when they reach a certain age? When their experience of life aligns with a certain level of maturity? 

If you’ve found yourself asking why we are called Boys Get Sad Too, you’re not the only one. Trust us, we get it a lot, which is why we thought we’d share our reasoning behind the name. 

We believe that the toxic connotations that society pushes on being a man is a barrier that needs to be broken down. Men often feel they have to be strong, unemotional and powerful, but this isn’t an approach that is working - this is shown by the fact that suicide is the biggest killer of men under 45 years old. We’re here to show that emotions, good and bad, are something that should be widely spoken about. There is power in vulnerability, but sometimes it’s hard to see that in a world of toxic masculinity. Men are frequently told that showing emotion is a sign of weakness and from a young age, boys are often made to believe that they should be strong and suppress their feelings in favour of seeming more masculine. Often, boys and men of all ages can struggle to come to terms with what it means to be a ‘man’.

We believe the world ‘boy’ encompasses all ages, which is what we have always wanted to achieve with Boys Get Sad Too. Whether the person reading our message is 10 years old or 70, they will be able to relate to being a ‘boy’. Not everyone can identify with being a man, or feel secure in the status of ‘manliness’. We do understand that some won’t feel comfortable wearing an item of clothing that says Boys Get Sad Too on it, but perhaps this is due to the pressure to be manly that boys face in society every day. Many don’t have a problem being referred to as a ‘boy’ in other scenarios - think of the phrase ‘out with the boys’ ‘the weekends of the boys’, etc. It seems to be a point of contention when it is used in a phrase that relates to mental health. 

In using the word ‘boys’ in our name, we believe that we’re taking things back to where the root of the stigma originates and involving everyone who may have, or will, encounter problems with mental health in a world that wants to tell men to ‘man up’