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From the moment we come out of the womb, we're taught--whether explicitly or implicitly--what it means to be a man.

We're tough, we fight, we don't cry, we don't ask for help, we don't wear pink, we man up and figure it out and we sure as hell don't talk about our feelings.

It's as if we're programmed to go against what makes us human: feeling our feelings and being able to analyze them and figure out where they may be coming from and why. Why do they do this to us?

Yes, as men, we are biologically made and built to do certain things and handle certain things that typically--but not always--we may excel at more than women. And there's nothing wrong with that!

There's nothing wrong with being tough, brave, being a provider and a protector, being self-reliant or being a leader--these are great traits to have! But just because we may be built for these things doesn't mean we HAVE to live and die by them and it doesn't mean we're less men because we don't fully embody these.

Also, just because we are men, it doesn't mean that we don't feel things and don't have emotions--things that are considered feminine traits. We all embody both masculine and feminine traits, it's part of being human. It just so happens that someone someday decided to label these traits as "masculine" and "feminine". We humans love order and organization and labels.

The problem is, when we say "this is how a man thinks, speaks and acts", we're simultaneously saying "you're not a real man if you think, speak and act differently than this cultural norm and expectation". You're labeled as feminine, gay or a p*ssy.

It's time to blow up this man box we're all put in and start to figure out what masculinity and being a man means to us, as individuals.

My definition of masculinity is being "the man". Not the man they told you to be, but THE MAN you were born to be. Truthfully, authentically. Nothing is more masculine than that.

What's your definition of masculinity?