Have you read "LIttle Gorilla?"
Eveyone loves little gorilla. Then, he grows up, and everyone still loves him.
I see something happen to boys when they develop into men. Without stong, kind male role models, I see young men unconciously emasculate themselves, in order to not alienate women, or not be a "typical male." One young man I know actually crosses his feet in front of himself in a very weak stance every time he puts forth an idea. He also finds it hard to trust his own judgement, and was asking me a bizillion unnecessary questions, until he realized he was doing it, and is trying to be more self-directed.
I once knew a young man who told me he was raised in a lesbian community, and was adored by all those around him, until he began to resemble a man, and he suddenly felt "tossed aside," like he was a threat, or not wothy of the affection he'd been showered with as a child.
Reading Little Gorilla to my baby son, I know he'd rather eat the book than finish the story. But I want to finish the book out loud, so the men around me, especially my husband, can absorb the story, like a poetic balm for their inner boy.
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I find myself looking at my angelic 3 year old son and mourning the fact that he will soon grow up and change into a man... this post made me really think about the fact that his becoming a man will be a beautiful thing I should celebrate. I have to find that book now, thank you for the post!
I feel the same about my little guy, too, he wants to be a man now, he wants to work like his daddy and papa. He even takes work breaks, and lunch breaks. He "comes home from work". My son is going to be a worker, but I have to remind him not to grow up too fast. Its soo intense.
I will have to think about the substantive points you raised, but just wanted to say that I *heart* "Little Gorilla." In fact, I stole it from my MIL! 
"I have no country. As a woman, I want no country. As a woman my country is the whole world." - Virginia Woolf
"I have no country. As a woman, I want no country. As a woman my country is the whole world." - Virginia Woolf
"If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament." - Rose F. Kennedy
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