Crying is one of the most basic ways for us to express our emotions, whether it’s sadness, happiness, or anger. Everyone is capable of crying, but not everyone is given the same privilege to do so. Just like how the young are expected, or even entitled, to cry, the mature are expected of just the opposite, to endure and to never cry. This same expectation that governs the boundary between the young and the mature is also the boundary that separates males and females.

“Don’t cry. Be a man. Suck it up.”

This is a very common phrase used against boys at any point in their lives. During childhood, it helps boys realize that they are not allowed to show weakness or by crying. If a boy fell down and hurt himself, a mother would most likely tell him not to cry because he is a boy. However, if the same situation was applied to a girl, the mother would let her cry and attempt to soothe her.

Even at such a young age, we are taught that there is a very fine line that separates a boy from a girl, and mothers demonstrate this to us. Despite being a woman, their actions speak of how even they encompass and promote the idea of sexism. This one phrase may seem harmless, but it is not. People may say that they are only educating their child so that they will be strong and be prepared for life, but it is this harmless phrase that continues to sow the seeds of sexism of the next generation and the one after.

“Women are fragile.”

Women are not fragile. They are only presented as fragile because that is the image that tradition and society has illustrated to the public. If women are given a chance to demonstrate what they are capable of accomplishing, this is not the phrase that people will use to describe them. Again, this is another phrase that people have implemented in children at a young age. Children do not know that there exist a boundary between genders. All a child knows is who can he or she play with next.

These sexist ideas that people unknowingly spread