Thought Catalog

This is why Thought Catalog is bomb.

"I Miss The Boys"
By RYAN O'CONNELL
Mar. 25, 2011

I miss the boys I met in the sandbox or on the monkey bars. I miss the boys who would punch someone in the face and inevitably cry afterwards. It’s because their genitalia didn’t outweigh their emotions yet. Their tear ducts hadn’t been frozen, hadn’t been exchanged for a larger penis.

I miss the boys who thought masculinity meant the color blue. I miss the boys who wanted to touch a phallic gun instead of a pair of supple breasts. They would take their little boy bodies and go adventuring into trees, into ravines, into the pages of a comic book. They would speak in small voices and still wrap their arm around their best guy friend. They loved for the sake of loving, didn’t know the rules yet, didn’t know that wasn’t proper male behavior.

I don’t miss the boys who grew older and dumber. With every inch they gained, a spec of maturity was lost. This was when boys became boys, punched other boys in the face and no longer cried afterwards. They began the process of selling their emotions to the Dick Devil. “Just one more inch and I promise not to feel anything anymore.” I miss the few boys who would still surprise you, who would show moments of kindness underneath their machismo.

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"On Fight Club, Dogs, and Love"
BySEAN LI
Mar. 25, 2011

Sometimes, a man can fall in love. It happens. It’s a wonderful thing, sometimes. But something about love in this day and age fills people with more anxiety than hope. We have to watch out for ourselves, earn enough money, be attractive enough, be socially adjusted, be interesting, and have the courage to date. And fail. And to try again. All this must be done in the face of statistics pointing to the fact that more and more marriages and families are failing than ever before.

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Both awesome articles released on the same day. Brilliant.