[phoenix rise]

why is weakness not tolerated in society? if a man cries, he will be forever marked as weak and this would have severe consequences because other surrounding guys who see this will hate him and will automatically lose respect for him. Another example is if a dude is homeless no one will have respect for him because he is too weak to support himself. another one is if you can't do say 50 pushups, your drill instructor will yell at you and insult you and punish your whole unit and the people in your unit will hate you for this. but why does man frown upon weakness?

I don't know im just feeling philosophical at the moment.

[_dax_]

Biology

"Survival of the Fittest"

[Samael]

There are several types of "weaknesses" but I think in general, people want to be strong (or at least look it). So they project their own wants/desires onto other people. I don't think people have ever valued weakness though. There's also that whole issue of masculinity, gender assignments, and the stereotypes which spawn from the two prior topics. These concepts are somewhat dated though, the idea that only a man or a woman is able to perform a certain action/function (within reason) is ridiculous.

[Hax]

Oh man philosophy. The art of changing the definition of a word to suit your argument while simultaneously changing other definitions to point out flaws in your opposition's arguments.

The part about the crying and homeless come from the way society operates. I don't think its so much about frowning upon weakness so much as if you are a guy and you cry and if you are homeless, you will illicit certain reacdtions. Not sure if thats what you would call "weak" though. The part about a drill instructor will come about through not fulfilling basic requirements and the punishments that result. Everyone gets punished and who likes punishments? We hate the source of the punishment.

I find society does tolerate a certain level(whether that be high or low) of weakness though. If society truly tolerated no weakness, we wouldn't see any forms of weak behavior because they would be weeded out.

[Temoin la Nuit]

Because society admires strength, resolution, and ambition.

It's part of "tribe" type thinking. These qualities advance the tribe, while things like weakness, laziness, etc. don't - or in some cases, are parasitic / harmful to the tribe (i.e. people abusing welfare, people being drama queens, etc.)

Strength and supporting yourself is admirable. It makes me think of someone I saw during the fourth of July festivities in NYC this weekend. This immigrant, with a picnic cooler on top of two milk crates, selling cold water in front of an alleyway. That's the rawest form of ambition. This dude has nothing - not a storefront, not a real inventory, nothing. But you can bet that if he has this hustler's spirit when he has nothing, when he makes $5k, he's gonna turn it into $10k, into $20k.

[HaplessChild]

why is weakness not tolerated in society? if a man cries, he will be forever marked as weak and this would have severe consequences because other surrounding guys who see this will hate him and will automatically lose respect for him. Another example is if a dude is homeless no one will have respect for him because he is too weak to support himself. another one is if you can't do say 50 pushups, your drill instructor will yell at you and insult you and punish your whole unit and the people in your unit will hate you for this. but why does man frown upon weakness?

I don't know im just feeling philosophical at the moment.

If a man cries it had better be for a damn good reason. If a woman cries it had better be for a damn good reason. Stress relief is a damn good reason. It's healthy. Just do it in privacy like anything else. In public it just looks like a cry for attn.

People look down on other people that can't handle the basics. "If I can do this, so can you; it's basic. If I can do this, and you can't, I'm stronger than you. You are lower on the food chain."

Darwinism.

[derrek]

I cried just reading this thread ohhhhhh *covers eyes* dayum!!! I'm just so sensitive!!!

[TurtleXGeojitmal]

weakness is a sign of beta being. strength is a sign of an alpha being. Society is in love with leaders who show strength and their alpha-ness.
The weak perish while the strong survive.

[phoenix rise]

heres a little experiment. start crying in your classroom or something if you go to school. pretend you hurt your arm. tell me if afterwards if people will start hating you and start looking down at you and maybe laugh at you.

[MissLadyBunny]

It could be something in are DNA to stray away and punish those who are weak. In the animal kingdom those who are to weak do not survive in the wild. They are most likely to follow prey and die within a short period of time. It seems you are targeting a man's indentity in society. Men since birth are taught to be tough and do manly things like build houses. Its something you have to look at society standard vs just being sexes. Though American laws find sexism illegal and a form of discrimination. Boys don't cry but they do cause they are human with emotions. There is nothing wrong when a man crying its why he is crying we like to place harsh judgement.

Some one who is homeless we often make up stereotypes to justified are cruel and crude response. They might be a drug addict or an alcoholic. They could suffer a mental disease. They're uneducated and simply did not seek help from their situation. There are people who still work and struggle to make income. That can also leave them to become homeless. We are told to have sympathy for others but not empathy. Its just a matter whether not you truly care and put efforts to help those who have less than you. You are able to relate and understand not because you feel guilty and feel social dogma. You know it right thing to do not cause you have to do it. This shows if you understand the difference between societies moralities vs your own.

[Hax]

heres a little experiment. start crying in your classroom or something if you go to school. pretend you hurt your arm. tell me if afterwards if people will start hating you and start looking down at you and maybe laugh at you.

Honestly when someone cries, I do not mark them as weak or anything. I honestly want to know what happened. You don't see people crying all the time.

Also when people hurt their arm, people don't look down on you. What the heck? Most people want to know what happened. The only time they will laugh at you is if your story behind it is funny.

[Trungy]

heres a little experiment. start crying in your classroom or something if you go to school. pretend you hurt your arm. tell me if afterwards if people will start hating you and start looking down at you and maybe laugh at you.

The bigger question is: Is it you who have a greater sensitivity to your surroundings because you have the perception that people are frowning upon you for your moment of weakness?

I know that if I.. for instance, banged my forearm on my classroom desk and began to weep, I know that the next day of classes, I'd be terrified of how my peers would treat me.

It is also a poor opinion that society treats a man lowly for crying. Of course his interaction with his peers will differ. The crying is just another set of information for people to categorize and utilize for the next interaction, much like how you know how to act in front of a person who has the power to become easily angry (to stay away from or to carefully choose words in order not to invoke) or how to act in front of a person who easily laughs (to spend more time with).

I just don't see the exact correlation.

[Hax]

The bigger question is: Is it you who have a greater sensitivity to your surroundings because you have the perception that people are frowning upon you for your moment of weakness?

Well said. I was trying to say this but couldn't find the words. That was the question I had while reading this thread, lol.

[avant-garde]

The answer: Darwinism.