The book begins with an image of a slumped-over, masked lucha libre wrestler shedding droplets of terrified sweat in a locker room as his opponent flexes his giant muscles back in the ring. This appealing book makes the timely decision to hold the conversation about male emotions while everyone involved is in costume, performing some iconically macho role. But the earnest, straightforward Rosey Grier approach was ripe for an update. So do boys feel more free to cry and show emotion now than they did back in the 1970s? Keith Negley’s “Tough Guys (Have Feelings Too),” a simple, stylishly illustrated picture book from the design-conscious publisher Flying Eye Books, suggests they do not. These imaginary figures show vulnerability only in tiny doses, and preferably while they’re encased in protective, muscle-hugging spandex. Perhaps even more now than in the 1970s, an ever-growing pantheon of superheroes and ninjas and other tough-guy fantasy figures surrounds American boyhood. Finally, little boys would be freed from the tyranny of the tough-guy stereotype! But that hasn’t exactly happened. The Vietnam War was nearing its end, and the grown-ups were emotionally exhausted. You and Me” album, inviting a generation of boys to let their softer feelings show. star Rosey Grier sang “It’s All Right to Cry” on the “Free to Be.
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