Łukasz Horbów
AFAW, PL 
I learned how to cry

Documentation of a crying on-call performance. Almost all of us heard the words “stop crying” as a child, and surely every boy has heard “guys don’t cry” hundreds of times. William Pollock’s book “Real Boys: Rescuing Our Sons From the Myths of Boyhood” proves that boys in their infancy are usually more emotional than girls – they cry and scream more often. In contrast, four-five-year-old boys are less likely to show emotion and this is not caused by any biological differences between men and women. The problem lies in the culture. Throughout their childhood, boys hear how real men behave, and in adulthood they are still expected to be stereotypical masculinity, disregarding their sensitivity and showing their feelings. Hiding emotions can be clearly seen in pop culture, and above all in cinematography, where film characters become role models for most men. Hiding “unmasculine” emotions can lead to increased aggression and frustration or depression among men. The performance is a continuation of my project “Boys Should cry.” (https://vimeo.com/383467920) in which I was analyzed the filmography of a thousand of the most popular actors according to the IMDB portal. I found less than thirty scenes in which the face of a crying actor is fully visible.
Why do men behave more aggressively than women when it is not biological? Why are they afraid of being compromised and why do they have to be tough? Why do they wear a macho mask? Why is anger the only emotion they can freely show, so the only emotion, turns out to be anger?