And quite frankly i have to applaud some of these men for their bravery. These men get told a million times a day how to be a man and htey still manage somehow to reach some version of an authentic self, whether it be gay, transgender, or just a well rounded, emotional and empathetic, being.

Oddly enough, its sometimes easier for me, a Black woman, to be my authentic self, and truly know who I am, because I have been told from the moment of my birth by the culture I live in, that I already exist outside the boundaries of true womanhood. That gives me a level of freedom of nonconformity that a lot of white people do not have.

( Not saying that American socialization doesn't work on women like me, it just has to work harder because we get years of practice in recognizing and resisting it.)