For many men in America, childhood was spent navigating a multitude of different expectations of masculinity reinforced by authority figures in their lives, like parents and educators, as well as consumer culture, the media and the world in general.

And for many LGBTQ people in America, childhood was also marked by repeated failure to fulfill those expectations ― often leading to cultural and personal consequences as a result.

On Thursday night, I tweeted out a joke about a memory I had of a time that I failed masculinity as a child ― by not wearing shorts that fell below my knees.