They say men must act tough through it all, but what really astonished me was the fact that they are constantly obligated to keep a poker face. Sorrow, anger, fear: these are all completely normal emotions every human is born with, man or not. Thus, being told to not show feelings eventually builds up inside of you until you can no longer take it anymore. This shook me because coming from a family of three woman, I’m not really aware of how men are treated since all my life, I was told it is harder to live life as a woman.

Another thing that jumped at me was “1 in 4 boys get bullied at school, and only 30% of those boys tell their parents”. This was shocking in particular because in movies such as Mean Girls and cyberbully, the females were often targeted. It caught my attention as I figured male, in particular gays are thrown under the bus for almost anything. In addition, the bullies often tend to pick on people because they are taught how to behave dominantly in which, bullies think they are.

As for the Carlos Andres Gomez book, the part that got to me was when after figuring out what a faggot meant, Carlos went on stating he has had “classmates and friends describe gay people as pedophiles and molesters”. Incidents such as so transformed Carlos into a homophobic person to the point he refused to attend a gay club. This intertwines with the documentary because gay people are considered weak and show sissyness in the eyes of society. According to the movie, “boys have a higher suicide rate than girls” and almost every male who shared their bullying incident in the movie thought of suicide at one point.

I found it very shocking that 1 in 4 young boys get bullied and only 30% of them notify adults. This data really spoke to me, in my opinion, these numbers are too high. The main reason that boys get bullied is for being feminine and lacking manly characteristics. The boys getting bullied cannot express themselves or confide in adults, making them feel lonely, depressed, and sometimes, suicidal. Boys can’t be sad without being considered a sissy or girly. Dr. Caroline Heldman explained how masculinity is reactive and that it is a rejection of femininity. Society has constructed being compared to a girl to be very offensive. It is acceptable for boys to be angry and mad because those are considered to be masculine qualities. A young boy has to be dominant, ready to fight, athletic, and emotionless. The research that a big percentage of boys are bullied and remain silent really concerns me. This caught my attention because personally, there has to be a change and these numbers need to decrease. My attention was also caught with what Dr. Heldman said about people not being born with masculinity, but it being a reactive way of coping with things. In order to truly insult a boy, he’s compared to being feminine, which indirectly dehumanizes girls and women. This, along with the bullying, has to discontinue.

My favourite experience of Carlos Andrés Goméz’s would be when he went to the Palladium on a Friday night (gay night). A drag queen was outside of the club deciding who could come into the function, that would have been a dead giveaway to me. New York City is like the city of drag. After interacting with the drag queen, Carlos still went into the club. There must have been a part of him that suspected something unusual about the club that night, yet he still entered. This event helped me understand his openness to sexuality, masculinity, and femininity. Most people would be conflicted when seeing a drag queen because it makes them question themselves and their views on gender. He was able to identify the person as being a drag queen and he didn’t have any negative emotions towards this person.

The man who inspires me the most is my dad. My dad inspires me because he never gives up. I want to be like him when I grow up. His life has not always been easy for him, but he suceeded and always got everything he wanted. He always worked very hard to get to where he is now, and I admire that. He started with nothing, and now he has everything he ever wanted! My dad has a really big heart ; he forgives everyone, even when they don’t ask for it! When he sees that someone needs something, he’ll give them what he has. I look up to my dad because he always sacrificed everything for me, and that means a lot! Finally, for me, someone who is inspirational is someone who works hard and never gives up even if it’s hard! It’s also someone who always wants the best for people, who helps people who need help, etc. 

When it comes to inspiration, the first and only person that pops up in my head is my great grand-father Mohammad Zahir.

I unfortunately don’t remember him since I only saw him once when I was 5 years old before he died.

But through time and time, I always heard about him and when I knew who he was I immediately felt goosebumps, and that’s how I knew who my inspiration is.

Well let me tell who this man is and why he inspires me a lot.

Starting with his childhood, he had a little tough life. His family wasn’t financially good enough and getting his education was hard since his family weren’t educated a lot. So, he had a lot of struggles growing up, but he had hope. He always knew that there’s something better that is waiting for him. And so, he worked his maximum effort, always giving his best with everything and everyone. He never said no to anyone and he was super humble and generous even though he didn’t have that much to give. He simply never said no to anyone.

When he became 20 years old, he decided to open his little pharmacy for work. Through his reputation everyone started buying from him, knowing that he won’t ever cheat or scam anyone. and so, his business started growing more and more by the time, until he opened his own pharmaceutical company. And even though he started having much more money than he used to have, he never bragged about it or did anything stupid with it. He always tried donating and giving the poor as much as he could secretly. And because he was so generous, this one company turned into 3 companies that are the best in my hometown to date.

All this going on in his life, when you really get to meet him, he was the kindest and wisest man you’ll ever meet. His smile never left his face and he always had faith; he was always positive even though sometimes life was harsh on him. He really changed people’s lives. The day he died, lots and lots of people showed up at his funeral and started telling their stories about him, and that’s where everyone knew that there was so much more good he was doing but he kept it for himself because he knew showing off isn’t the way to live life happily.

To this date he is still mentioned by people about how good of a man he was and how he will forever be someone that will change people’s perspectives about life and I’m happily one of them.

Thanks to him, I learned that to live life happily, you should always have hope, you always have to be humble and generous, because what you give to the world, is what you are going to get back.

My father was a real man, and he was the man who inspires me all though my life. 

My father was tall, handsome and good natured. He had a good reputation for his good temper and could get along with our relatives and neighbours. He often tried his best to help our relatives and neighbours when they need help. He told me that people were living in a group, where people could gain more power and achieved better life, and members in the group should support each other. Now I am a helpful and happy person with many good friends and harmonious relationship, and I think this is own to my father.

My father was a good husband and father. In the environment where my parents lived, a husband often had more advantage and power in a family; however, my father respected my mother and was willing to put her in the most important position in our family. On the other hand, my mother refused to accept any other man and have been singled for 20 years since my father passed away. She says she is not alone.

My father was extremely brave and strong even if he was facing the death. When doctor told my parents my father got a career and had only one year to live, my mother burst into sorrow and despair; however, my father never showed any sadness before my mother. He always comforted my mother with the thought that he didn’t feel any pain and malaise, maybe he would live for a long time. On the other hand, he tried his best to earn and save more money for my family. He told me that he didn’t fear going to heaven where everyone would go, but he did worry about the life of our family without his support.

My father is my hero. He inspired me to face and overcome the difficulties in my life with his sense of responsibility, his optimism and his courage, and I will inherit these good qualifies to inspire my children.

The man who inspires me is Will Smith, he has had a successful career and built a family that loves and supports one another. Will Smith’s impact in Hollywood has allowed him to win four Grammy Awards and land many leading roles as well as making movies with his son. He is a talented actor and entrepreneur, Smith contributes to the music and film industries.

Will Smith and his friend DJ Jazzy Jeff were a hip hop duo and Smith was the MC in the group. At twenty five years old, Smith had a musical breakthrough that introduced him to Hollywood and the film industry. When he turned twenty two, he and DJ Jazzy Jeff were casted in a sitcom which turned out to be very successful and it opened new doors for new opportunities in the film industry. Smith is very close to his wife Jada Pinkett-Smith and their three children, Trey, Jaden and Willow Smith. 

The reason why he is an inspiration to me is because he is a hardworking and honest man who values and prioritizes providing for his family. In my opinion, he also raised two smart and conscious individuals who are on the same path as their dad, to live life fully and peacefully, which is important to me. 

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Alan Turing was a mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst and philosopher that lived from 1912 to 1954. Turing is most known for the work he accomplished during the Second World War as a researcher of the English army and the allied forces mandated to break the “Enigma machine”— a machine created by the German forces to send encrypted messages to the entire German army. With his machine created to destroy “enigma”, Turing is estimated to have saved more than 14 million lives and shorten the war by more than 2 years in Europe. He is considered to be the father of artificial intelligence. Despite all of his accomplishments and sacrifices for his nation, Turing was never fully recognized by his country during his lifetime because of his homosexuality. Today, Turing’s work is recognized all over the world. In fact an academy award movie was made in remembrance of his work on cryptanalysis of “Enigma”. His work is really inspiring to me because it tells me that it doesn’t matter who or what you are to society, what matters is what you decide to create with your life.

The man who inspires me the most would have to be my dad. Since I can remember, he has helped me and supported me with anything and everything I tried to accomplish. He loves unconditionally and is very supportive. My mom went tot he dog run one morning with my puppy and it started to rain so he drove all the way to her to give her an umbrella because he knew that she would like to stay with her dog run friends for a little longer. He always knows how to have a good time and make certain situations more tolerable. He has always been good at understanding and helping other people which is a trait that I admire. All he wants for me and my siblings is for us to succeed in whatever field we decide to go into.

Hate the sin, love the sinner.

I chose Mahatma Gandhi as an inspirational man because he is an example, as a leader, to everyone and to his people that we can fight without violence. He used his voice by speaking softly instead of fighting violently. Gandhi fought with intelligence and used his wise words to spark revolution, inspiring many individuals. He led India’s Independence movement in the 1930s and 40s facing down the British colonialists with non-violent protest. He is an inspiration to the Indians until now for what he has done to the country and moved a lot of people around the world with his speech. Now, his speech are now quotes that are used to teach a lesson and to learn from for the youth. Furthermore, Gandhi possessed qualities such as leadership, simplicity and bravery. Leadership was one of Gandhi’s heroic qualities by encouraging people as well as not staining his hands to fight. For me, Gandhi qualifies as an inspirational man as he is an unforgettable role model who is known for changing the world in to a better place by his significant words and he inspires people in our generation, which is why he remains to be one of the inspirational men around the world. And that inspires me to do good things despite all the cruelty in this world, to remain calm and use my voice to speak the truth and to defend myself from others. As Ghandi said, “Hate the sin, love the sinner.”

In my life, the person who inspired me most was my father. A father is a person who doesn’t talk much but gives a lot of action. He is a very responsible person. He is the best dad in the world to me. He advises me on what decisions I want to make, but he never forces me to follow his wishes.

Studying abroad is a turning point in my life. When I was studying in China, I was always a person with many ideas. My father knew my personality and gave me suggestions for studying abroad. And he will listen to a lot of my ideas. Every time I mess up something or think of giving up. My father would tell me “do what makes you happy.” This is a great relief to me.

For me, it is better to urge me to do something than to encourage me to do something. He made me feel that no matter what I did, he would always get his support behind me. If it fails, it is life experience. If is succeed, celebrate together.

I see the characteristics of he are responsible, patient, attentive, courteous and listening. He listens patiently as I tell my thoughts, and doesn’t interrupt me. If he has other opinions, he will wait for me to give advice or encourage me. He would agree with me and show a willingness to listen. He is the most important being in my life.