Guys, are you comfortable being vulnerable even around any single person in your life?

[StarWarGirl]

there’s a story Brené Brown (a shame researcher) tells where a guy approaches her and said, “I like what you had to say…but my wife and daughters? They’d rather see me die on top of my white horse than watch me fall off. You say you want us to be vulnerable and real, but c’mon. You can’t stand it. It makes you sick to see us like that.”

[GuyAnswersGirls123]

I try to be as much as I can around even complete strangers.

I have a very close friend who used to own a bar and he gave me one of the greatest compliments (I might have a strange idea of "compliment") I ever received in my entire life. As a bartender for over a decade, he had become a very good judge of character, and he told me that I'm completely unashamed to show people my anus. 😂

He meant it figuratively and explained to me that I'm metaphorically naked and unashamed in the way I talk to others, that I reveal things about myself which most people would be afraid to reveal. He didn't exactly use it as a compliment and even teased me about it even though he said it's my most endearing quality. I can overshare and be quite TMI at times.

The way I look at it though is that I try as much as I can to develop a thick skin while completely naked. We can't make our hide stronger if we wear the thickest armor all the time to protect ourselves from potential enemies who might attack. We might even grow to depend on wearing the armor all the time, even around our allies, to feel safe and constantly be paranoid about kinks in our armor.

It's only when we completely take the armor off and keep it off that I think we can make our figurative bodies the strongest. So I like to metaphorically fight in the figurative nude. It does come with the disadvantage that I give nasty people a lot more to attack, but at the same time it's easier to deal with those attacks since they didn't come from finding kinks in my armor. Since I share much the same things to everyone else, it doesn't sting as much if someone nasty attacks a vulnerability I shared with them when I've already shared the same vulnerability with dozens of other people who are my trusted allies and have my back.

So I believe very much in being vulnerable this way and practicing it on a regular basis, at least with our loved ones, but I like to practice it even with complete strangers.

[GuyAnswersGirls123]

Another thing in my case is that I used to be extremely shy as a teenager, so shy that I would hide in my home when someone was at the door and hope they didn't notice anyone inside since I was afraid to answer the door.

I came to realize that a lot of that shyness came from being afraid of having kinks in that metaphorical armor I always wore. I was embarrassed by every little thing back then: embarrassed by the way my parents acted in public, embarrassed if I tripped or did something clumsy, embarrassed if I said something awkward to a girl I liked, etc. I also kept many things hidden about myself that I was worried I would be teased about if I shared, like my interests which weren't always the most masculine and cool (ex: I loved some Madonna songs but I didn't want to share that with the guys at school knowing they'd tease me, instead I only shared the songs I liked which were considered cool like Nirvana songs).

Then I started to realize around university that all the shyness and embarrassment I got was from the shame I had over these vulnerable things I kept hidden from others. So I started to share them (initially reluctantly with only the closest people like my first girlfriend and closest friends) and found it very therapeutic.

I even went streaking on a dare and found it extremely therapeutic to get over my shyness to literally and physically get naked in front of hundreds of strangers. Then I did a similar thing getting metaphorically "naked" sharing my soul to complete strangers and found it equally therapeutic. The more I did that, the more I became immune to embarrassment and I started to overcome my shyness to a level that now no one ever believes me that I used to be so shy.

So I kind of needed that being a shy person, so afraid to ever share a single vulnerability of mine, to go the complete opposite person and even lean towards becoming an oversharing type. It was a key part of getting over my shyness.

[Kokoroho]

Not anymore. They typically use it against you when you least expect it. Happen to me during Christmas. Told the stupid girl I'm not going to her Christmas party. Known her for like 3 months. Family first. She later post on Instagram thanking a specific guy I was a bit jealous of and insecure with cause she treat him a little better than me. I'm like what hell. why? She never pist thar kinda stuff. She told why she did it. I will never be open or vulnerable again.

[Lionman95]

No I'm only vulnerable to a handful of people and 90% of them are male. I don't trust the rest enough to keep a secret what I tell them or I'm not sure that if I went vulnerable that our relationship would survive. So only a small number of people get to see me really break down.

[aceleon]

not even with my mother.

vulnerability doesn't suit a man but it is still only natural to have it, i can do it but doesn't mean my system accepts the vulnerability.