Human development

Emotional development Emotional development In Raising Cain article, it emerges that boys are rarely trained for their emotional life. This occurs in spite of the fact that life is riddled with emotions. Most of the ordinary things in life such as school and work normally involve emotions as involved individuals handle complex situations. These complex situations occur to any individual regardless of one’ sex. The universality of human experience, however, does not reflect in the traditional cultural teaching that nurtures boys to be tough and unemotional. In the paper, the author tackles the height of emotional ignorance that the society instills in boys.
The article uses the example of Luke in demonstrating the unwillingness of boys to deal with their emotional sides. As the article envelops, it manifests that Luke has emotional issues that he needs to handle. This reveals in his opinions as he castigates every member of his family. He thinks that all his family members are absurd (Kindlon, Thompson, & Barker, 2009). It is arguable that Luke’s emotional issues could be centered on family’s limited attention towards him. This means he is feeling neglected. Unfortunately, Luke is growing up in a culture that men are not supposed to express their feelings.
It is essential to highlight the importance of engaging culture in such a contentious debate. This is because, mostly, human beings’ behavior is not largely defined by complex psychological situations, but is mostly influenced by contemporary cultural attitudes. Such cultural attitudes, for instance, are responsible for factors such as sexism and racism. When wrong ideas and attitudes in life inculcate in a human being at a young age, one is highly likely to grow up with such flawed perceptions in life. This creates a society-wide disaster because everyone believes the same.
Wrong societal attitudes thrive on creating hegemony. For instance, in depicting complimentary gender roles, boys are taught to be tough and objective. These ideals do not allow for emotional development of boys. The society creates such hegemony because boys are constructed as protectors of women. In addition, boys see themselves more as leaders and holding powerful positions in the society. This is unlike the female who attains a huge capacity to be emotional and weak. In the end, the female has the expectations of being a homebuilder and a nurturer. Limited emotional development, however, ignores the fact that every human being has emotional needs. A young boy, such as Luke, who suppresses his emotions may become aggressive and stressed in the future.
In my future role as a physical educator, I will inculcate this awareness in my work. This is because my work will involve interacting with both young boys and young girls. In physical education, there is a high likelihood of underperformance. Feelings of underperformance, however, may culminate into low self-esteem. I will, therefore, encourage the boys in viewing performance failure as a normal part of life and perceive the same as a way of learning. This, especially, is important in cases where boys compare their performance with that of girls. Boys would have to learn that girls are human beings who can perform better than they in certain physical tasks can.
Reference
Kindlon, D. J., Thompson, M., & Barker, T. (2009). Raising Cain: Protecting the emotional life of boys. New York: Ballantine Books.