Admitting failure or worse yet, weakness, isn't a personal issue its a cultural one, which is far worse. Hold on, let me explain. You might imagine that admitting weakness as a male has me lowering my head in shame to the father figures of my life, and you would be right but those figures were never my father. My father was a drunk, drugged up piece of human waste whose idea of an ideal Friday night was beating my mother and I until someone passed out or called the cops. I couldn't possibly give a shit what my father's dead, stupid ass, thinks about me or my life.
Admitting failure, admitting weakness, admitting that I am less than what I built up as the image of what I was supposed to be rests on my culture. I wasn't BJ Honeycutt from Mash, I wasn't James Coburn, I wasn't Robin Williams, I wasn't handsome or funny or both. I wasn't naturally good with kids or my hands or good at or for much of anything. I raised myself to be judged by the ruler of those I saw on television because my culture tells excellent fairy tales and ladies and gentlemen, there is no faster way to fuck yourself up than assuming story told perfection is the only way to be.
