boys

I think it would be much cooler to say that I grew up as a Tom Boy, that I climbed trees, and threw footballs. But the truth is that boys were something that usually disgusted or infatuated me. Either way, they were always a mystery. My dad was there when I locked my keys in my car, or when I needed a ride to the movies. I knew he loved me, but he was often absorbed by work. So by lack of exposure, I just turned into a girl's girl. My mom, my sister, and my grandmother had a very dominant influence. And it's probably because of them that I learned to understand and rely on groups of women.

Then when my son was born, I realized that I'd been kind of smug about being a girl. I started to notice the hoards of commercials on television that are terribly demeaning to men.And I hate that women are still underpaid, and that many are being severely persecuted around the world. But I don't think the answer is to let the pendulum swing so far that we depict men as idiots and imbicils who are too stupid to vaccuum a carpet "correctly". I feel a little embarrassed that it took me so long, but also grateful for my son who shows me every day that boys are equally as vulnerable and complex as women. They may communicate their needs differently and less often. But we shouldn't overlook their importance.

Today we'd love to see images of the amazing boys and men in your life. :)

Comments

[Marcie]

Where might we be without our 'boys':
http://www.marciescudderphotography.com/index.php?showimage=886

[Sue Henry]

Ah. The "boys" in my life.....
http://suehenryphotography.wordpress.com/2009/05/29/houston-we-have-a-problem/

http://suehenryphotography.wordpress.com/2009/06/18/hi-ho-hi-ho/

[Puna]

My father was the same. But my goodness where would we be without our boys? I couldn't live without the men in my life now. Today, my boy turns 15. Whenever there is a birthday in my home, it reminds me of how little time I have to make a difference in their lives.

http://lifesignatures.org/wordpress/2009/08/a-young-mans-life/

[Leah]

It's so true, that pendulum scares me. I have a daughter and a son and I don't want either of them to benefit at the expense of the other.

Here are my boys:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lakeline/3685200863/

[Jennifer]

Hear, hear! I have two boys at home (as well as the lovely hubby) and at first, I had no idea what to do with them. But they are so smart, fun, loving, sensitive, tough-everything. Each day is a adventure. I love it!

[Sarah]

Gone fishin'...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/scunningham71/3828194385/in/set-72157622063572096/

What you don't see in this picture is how the older boy spend an entire day (more than eight hours, easily) helping the younger boy find worms, put them on hooks, how to cast, and how to properly hold a fish before tossing it back in the lake.

[Katrina Kennedy]

Beautifully written and so important! I love my boys and feel changed by them!

Here they are http://www.flickr.com/photos/ianconnor/3552683243/

[Shaundra]

I'm so glad you wrote this! I have a four year old boy, and when he was born, I decided every woman should have the privilege and perspective of raising a boy. It does create new appreciation for this undervalued gender.

[Paige]

Well said! I am a single mom raising a boy and I don't always "get" what a boy needs, but I sure appreciate what I have learned from him and what he is capable of.

[Kacey]

Boy photos I can do. We have 5 boys. Mostly grown now. They were all in town and I was trying so hard for the perfect photo...

http://www.wineonthekeyboard.com/2009/07/13/on-the-way-to-the-perfect-photo/

[Shannon]

I'm not a professional photographer like a lot of people here and have never posted at Shutter Sisters before, but I'm trying to get better so that maybe ONE DAY I can be a professional photographer. Anywhere here are a few I took of my amazing husband last night (in his work scrubs, as always -- he's a surgical resident). Any helpful advice would be appreciated as well!

http://milantominsk.com/blog/2009/08/19/country-roads-take-me-home/

[mandie segura]

Here's a photo of my husband and brother in law. :)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29104167@N06/3758152978/

[tixie]

My fiance - and hopefully father of many many boys of our own... (okay, some girls too would be okay... )

http://tixchik.blogspot.com/

[Heather]

I had my son after two daughters and I think it really has allowed me to revel in his boy-ness. Love this photo--the white tees, the well worn soft-shoes, the pure joy it captured!

http://heatherk.typepad.com/photography/2009/08/boyo.html

[Petchy]

The only man in my life right now <3 He came into my life in February 06 and totally changed my life, he's the apple of my eye and yet sometimes the biggest PITA ever - but boy do I love this little man, even when he throws a tantrum:

http://petchy.smugmug.com/gallery/9159498_gyw5x#611055901_GejR3-L-LB

[Dani]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36197392@N06/3516644924/in/set-72157616386203054/

This is one of my 2 brothers, he is over 6 feet but you would never be able to tell in this photo. He looks like an infant with an adult head.

[Samantha]

http://laughlovecreate.wordpress.com/2009/08/18/under-the-walnut-tree/

My best friend and I are raising our boys to be a part of the masculine movement. A time when men are not put down for doing things that are considered "women's work". Our dress up box has fancy dresses and party shoes as well as pirate hats and cowboy chaps. My sons are learning to embroider and knit and I take them to quilt shows as well as traditional art museums. True equality goes both ways- if girls can do all the thinks that only boys used to do, then boys can do the things that girls do.

[Jaana]

love these shout-outs to our boys! :)
http://photographybyjaana.blogspot.com/2009/08/man.html

[Alicia]

Here's the boy in my life...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/34467943@N07/3839403097/

[Rachel Parton]

My husband & our nephew: http://www.flickr.com/photos/partonponderings/2846041425/

My father: http://www.flickr.com/photos/partonponderings/2736470104/in/set-72157606479774345/

[Elizabeth]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7949578@N08/3839803053/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7949578@N08/3840591398/in/photostream/

[cdscott]

How timely...I just posted this on my blog yesterday about the boys in my life.

http://courtneysablogger.blogspot.com/2009/08/guy-stuff.html

[Trude]

Such a great post! I have two younger brothers that I'm pretty close with, and I'm equally close to my dad as I am to my mom. Hear, hear!

This shot is of a sweet moment my youngest brother shared with my parent's dog: http://www.flickr.com/photos/trudem/3797404020/

[Elaina]

No pictures to share but I wanted to say that this is a really great post and I agree wholeheartedly. It's nice to read elsewhere what I've been feeling for a long time!

[Krista]

A recent photo of my guys: http://picasaweb.google.com/krheiser/IndianLakeTahquamenon#5372006184289993282

[Ma']

I absolutely love your words here.

[Sandra]

You're so right! My son is thoughtful, sensitive and needs his feelings to have a voice just as much as any girl.

My guy today: http://www.flickr.com/photos/artfullife/3841250356/

[djbeat]

i grew up as one of three sisters - but always a tomboy (it took a boyfriend in my 30's to even get me interested in purses!) i'm not sure i ever saw myself with anything other than a son (though of course i would have loved either)...

i have too too many photos of my boys to pick one, but i will try:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/djbeat/3555402895/in/set-72157615214978268/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/djbeat/3801863014/in/photostream?edited=1

& from my blog:
http://365daysofdifferent.blogspot.com/2009/07/he-cracks-me-up.html

[Leah]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23431758@N03/3666227294/

I love this post. Why? Because I have 3 boys. I'm pregnant with my 4th and everywhere I go, people keep telling me I will probably be "devastated" if it's another boy. Devastated. I think not. Boys are so underated in my opinion.
If anything I will be blessed times 4.

[Dawn @ My Home Sweet Home]

Here are mine, all 5 of them: husband and four sons.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dawnmhsh/3194921966/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dawnmhsh/3648828395/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dawnmhsh/3836003576/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dawnmhsh/3835204169/

[Secret Agent Mama]

My eldest boy, Mikey.
He's just as stubborn as his Mama.
He's just as weird, too.
He's just as funny as his Papa.
He's just as calculated, to.
He's just as cool as can be.
But don't tell him I said,
It would make him have,
An even bigger head!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/secretagentmama/3839757009/

[beth]

here you go....I just posted this yesterday :)

http://moredoors.blogspot.com/2009/08/guess-whati-mean-who.html

[Liz W]

My boys....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ewhitaker/3822305412/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ewhitaker/3821360255/

[Angie]

LOVE this post!! I have had a similar experience - and now I have a hubby, 3 boys and no girls... I'm learning to appreciate men, that's for sure!


http://www.flickr.com/photos/thethiers/2423156945/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thethiers/3815860144/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thethiers/3437080414/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thethiers/2581650505/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thethiers/3692521961/in/photostream/

[georgia]

here's my guy.
http://itsjusthowiseethings.blogspot.com/2009/02/i-heart-faces-photo-contest.html

[Ginny]

My handsome boys

http://ginny73.blogspot.com/2009/07/34.html

[Kelly]

Well, must say, I don't have boys. I'm blessed with twin girls, much to my husband's chagrin. It's very rare that I actually capture my big boy with the camera, but this shot was definitely a keeper. He's got that rugged handsome "get that camera out of my face" look about him. :-)

http://happyshackdesigns.blogspot.com/2007/08/milestones.html

[Kasey Jackson]

I have three boys and love them to pieces. Here's a link to a few photos during baseball season this year ... sometimes it was hard running them back and forth between baseball fields, and i did a lot of complaining. But I know I need to slow down and love every minute of this. Boys and baseball go hand-in-hand. Mom just needs to BREATHE.

http://theotherjackson5.wordpress.com/2009/04/28/boys-balls-and-bats/

[Kasey Jackson]

And here's the comment where I admit I'm in love with your site but can't get up the nerve to really begin taking part. I'm going to ... soon.

Till then, here's a link to my post about your site...and two of my four boys.

http://theotherjackson5.wordpress.com/2009/08/22/shutter-sister/

[claudia]

Boys -how can they be so different right out of the same womb?
the wild child
http://www.flickr.com/photos/laurohunt/3829287825/
the thoughtful child
http://www.flickr.com/photos/laurohunt/3829287635/

[Laura Plouzek]

such a tender subject to me. Just celebrated my two year anniversary with a super husband (who ALWAYS vacuums correctly) and five months with the sweetest little boy I've ever known. I love photographing them together. From both sides:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/smilinglaura/3552080617/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/smilinglaura/3552890098/in/set-72157615785662212/

[Jessica]

My super cute boy students:
http://quotidian-photography.blogspot.com/2009/08/day-153-august-11-great-smile.html
http://quotidian-photography.blogspot.com/2009/07/day-141-july-30-at-window.html
http://quotidian-photography.blogspot.com/2009/07/day-140-july-29-from-archives.html

and the wonderful man in my life:
http://quotidian-photography.blogspot.com/2009/07/day-138-july-27-post-processing.html

Yep, boys are pretty great! Don't know where I would be without them.

[marirose]

You have expressed my sentiments exactly. I am the mother of 3 amazing boys and the wife of a wonderful man.

I grew up thinking that in order to be THE Woman, you needed to let the males in your life know that you are as good, or better than they were. Unfortunately, society has made the male sex the scapegoat for all of the "injustices" done to women (like women have no self-determining characteristics of our own). As you rightfully observed, many times the males in commercials, ads, storylines, etc. are made out to be the brunt of jokes, the less than competent individual, and/ or the clueless victim. I don't understand how this type of portrayal will develop strong male leaders in our society, whom we desperately need.

Yes, boys are different than girls. And yes, they provide the balance that is crucial for a thriving society. I wouldn't have it any other way.