I believe there's a tinge of femininity hidden in every man, no matter how manly the man claims to be. Men either refuse to acknowledge it or are blissfully oblivious. I don't understand who to give the required credit to, whether the women in our lives or the little estrogen we have gotten in alms from nature.
This dichotomy struck me, oddly enough, while eating a Kinder Joy. I had two variants in front of me: blue and pink. The taste, of course, was the same, but the real difference was in what came inside. The blue one had a sort of action figure — muscular man in green armour, sharp black hair, a serious face and a Pikachu on his hand, as if he had the responsibility of the world on him.
The pink one, though, had something completely different — a small penguin with a round belly. The packet came with tiny bandage stickers that you could stick on its stomach. I don't know why, but I instantly liked the penguin more. Maybe because it looked soft and harmless. Maybe because I've always liked penguins in general. I don't even know if I like them for what they are or because the word "Penguin" reminds me of my favourite books. Either way, they make me happy. They seem gentle. They seem at peace. They seem like they don't need to prove anything to anyone, unlike the action figures.
And maybe that's what this is really about — the hidden and softer side of men that most of us try so hard to hide, even from ourselves. I've seen it in people around me, in my father when he watches an emotional scene in a movie, tears threatening to fall, but he rolls his eyes and pretends nothing matters. I've seen it in friends, all fake, pretentious and artificial — oh, the great, mighty men of the world, all puffed up and walking as if they invented virility. I've seen it in myself too, in the way I prefer the penguin in the pink Kinder Joy over the blue action figure, or in the little ways I preserve memories.
I decided that from now on, I'll stop eating the blue Kinder Joy and go for the pink one. Maybe it's not just about toys or colours. Maybe it's about comfort. The blue one feels like performance. The pink one feels like peace. We all perform enough in life — let a man at least find peace in his chocolate.
Let the penguin inside all of us eat his chocolate in peace.