this post was submitted on 24 May 2025
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Reading the comments and didn't expect to feel like the odd one out regarding this. 38, haven't slept with my stuffed animals since probably before I was twelve? Am I strange? I guess I just don't feel insecure without them. ๐คทโโ๏ธ
When I was young I really liked them, right up until my dad made me feel terrible for doing so. I'm pretty sure he was embarrassed by it.
I didn't really think or care about this for a long time, until randomly one time at an IKEA I saw a guy in his mid 20s who just chose a stuffed animal, hugging it and smiling. His family was with him, and they were smiling and supportive. When I got back to the car I couldn't stop crying because the only response I ever got from my family was being yelled at or mocked. I may even have cried while writing this, so perhaps I'm still a tad upset.
My wife really likes stuffed animals however - and we have a raccoon that comes in the bed sometimes. The raccoon also came to a music festival with me once:
A lot of males or kids raised masculine have that habit broken real fast.
For the majority of the western world, it's still considered cute and more than acceptable for women to have stuffed toys into adulthood, or that it's feminizing in some way. Try that as a guy past a certain age though and you're more likely to flip a coin on social acceptance from friends, family and strangers alike.
It's a funny example how social pressure to conform to arbitrary standards and social norms is generational even if it makes no objective sense.
(For the dense out there, if you're here to reply arguing about the acceptability of having a teddy bear as a man or woman because of your personal story/kink, you're missing the leading subtext.)
It's definitely something I wouldn't admit in person. But fuck the modern definition of masculinity tbh.
I cry. I don't like hunting or sports. Or drinking, or doing stupid things or making every waking moment about sleeping with the next woman. I'm not handy, but there isn't a lot I can't do.
To me, masculinity feels more like alertness. The ability to handle anything that comes my way. The ability to solve problems in unconventional ways with the resources I have. Being able to own my faults and weaknesses.
I might not be strong physically, but I'm strong mentally. It might not seem that way to other people, but I'm still around aren't I? Yeah, I know I'm not physically attractive to most women, but I learned my lesson on the importance of physical attraction in a relationship. It's a small part.
I ain't getting rid of my bear, and I won't expect my son to either. Damn whatever his mom thinks. What's important is who we are, not what others think us to be.
Right on! I think it's awesome when someone confidently knows themself.