While there have been many strides of progress, men are still normally expected to not show much emotion. On average, it's a rarity when a man cries or is able to articulate his feelings.

And this idea that men can't be emotional has affected how people treat little kids.

I have a few nephews under the age of six. I can't tell you how many times I've heard a guy (not their parents) tell one of these boys to "toughen up" or "get over it" and "stop being such a crybaby" when one of them is upset over something.

It's horrifying.

Not only is it ridiculous for someone to not expect a child to react like a child, but this manner of treating an emotional boy creates the emotionally stunted men we see in society today.

It's this idea of telling men not to cry that leads to such high suicide rates.

Men are more than 3 times more likely to commit suicide than women. Cheryl Meyer, a psychology professor, says this is due to hegemonic masculinity, the idea that a man's machismo must be constantly advertised, despite whatever he may be feeling beneath the surface.

Psychotherapist Daphne Rose Kingma made the following remark in her book, "The Men We Never Knew":

Because of the way boys are socialized, their ability to deal with their emotions has been systematically undermined. Men are taught, point by point, not to feel, not to cry, and not to find words to express themselves.

This lack of properly teaching young boys how to express their feelings causes not only increased suicide rates as they grow older, but affects friendships with other men.

Most often, men's friendships with one another are reported to be less intimate and less supportive than women report their friendships with other women to be, according to a study.

This is not to say that all male-male friendships are dissatisfying. It is to say, however, that these friendships are not as satisfying as they could be since men are not often raised the same way as women.

Women are trained to be affectionate, emotional, and expressive. Because of this, their friendships with one another are reported to be highly intimate, supportive, and satisfying. Men tend to report feeling more satisfied in friendships with women than they do in their friendships with other men.

Too often, men see this data and experience the truth of it in their lives, but instead of making a change in how they interact with other men, they settle for going to their female friends for emotional support.

Thomas Kuegler of the "Huffington Post" wrote about this difference in friendships, and concluded it by saying he enjoyed his friendships with females the most, essentially claiming emotionally supportive male-male friendships to be a lost cause.

But it doesn't have to be.

Men are supposed to be emotional and expressive. I may not believe in culturally constructed gender roles, but I do believe in the gender roles laid out in the Bible.

There we find numerous examples of men weeping, wailing, and being tender. The psalmist and Israelite king, David, is a prime example. And no one is a better example than Jesus.

Jesus mourned when His cousin died, and He wept for Mary and Martha when Lazarus died (before He raised him back to life); He is no stranger to expressing His pain.

So why are so many men—especially those who claim to follow Christ?

Because we're raising them to be that way, even if they're not our own kids. Just the way we talk to boys—especially how older guys talk to young boys—shapes and influences them and their view of masculinity.

Men, it's more than okay to cry and to tell people what you're feeling. You won't have your "man card" taken away (literally the worst concept ever), nor will you be in any way less strong or less of a man.

There is nothing stronger than emotional vulnerability.

Let boys cry so that they can grow up to be emotionally mature men, capable of deep friendships with other men.