Internet Slams 'Toxic' Man For Mocking Brother Who Cried After Son's Birth

A man received online support after sharing in a now-viral post that he was taunted by his brother for crying over the birth of his son.

Posting in Reddit's "Am I The A**hole" (AITA) forum under the username u/ad_saidhowitis, the man said he retaliated by calling out his brother's "touchy" past. The post has garnered more than 10,000 upvotes and over 700 comments from Redditors who said the man's "toxic" brother deserved to be confronted.

In his post, the man said that shortly after his son was born, he and his wife FaceTimed his mother so that she could meet the baby.

"My wife was pointing the camera at me while I was holding him. I was sobbing the whole time. That triggered my wife and mom to start crying so that made me even more emotional because I was so happy our son was finally here," u/ad_saidhowiti wrote.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, humans cry for a myriad of psychological reasons, including to express grief, joy, or even rage.

"Crying for emotional reasons makes you feel better, releases tension and gives you a psychic reboot," Michael Roizen, MD, told the clinic. "Remember, all tears are there for the greater good, so there's absolutely no need for you to ever hold them back."

u/ad_saidhowiti's brother, however, purportedly doesn't think it's okay for men to cry.

"For some reason, my brother pointed out how funny it is to him that I was crying. And yeah he's one of [those] 'men don't cry' guys. We are used to it by now. However, I didn't like him laughing about an important moment in my life like it was no big deal to cry about. It was the birth of my son," u/ad_saidhowitis said. Unfortunately, things didn't end there.

"We were at my mom's house [when] my son started crying because he was hungry. So my brother said, 'looks like he's his daddy's son then,'" u/ad_saidhowitis recalled. "I asked him what he meant by that, [and] he [said] it's because of me crying like a little b**ch."

Upset, u/ad_saidhowitis called out his brother for missing the birth of his own child, saying: "Better that I cried like a b**ch than ran like a b**ch like you."

The comment upset his brother and their mother, prompting u/ad_saidhowiti to wonder if he'd taken things too far.

"AITA for reminding my brother he wasn't there for his daughter's birth when he was joking about my reaction to my son?" he asked.

But Redditors reassured the man that his brother deserved the jab.

"NTA [not the a**hole]. Your brother believes in some toxic masculinity nonsense and is ignorant. He got his feelings hurt because he decided to be a nasty AH [a**hole]. Too bad so sad," wrote u/maaya_the_bee.

"To be honest, he brought that onto himself. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. It's perfectly normal for people to cry when their child is born. Your brother is an idiot," said u/still_fallin.

"NTA," added u/malachite001. "Good for you for standing up to what is clearly a toxic sibling."

Newsweek has reached out to u/ad_saidhowitis for comment.

Other AITA posters to go viral in recent weeks include a pregnant woman whose husband treated her like a "valet," a woman whose husband took money from her disabled sister and a woman who delayed her husband's plans to return to work.