Thank you! I agree with you about how this applies to the ways mothers are perceived in patriarchy, for they seem to be positioned as always-already soft and therefore subject to devaluation by men who believe they are always hard and therefore superior. I really resonate with the work of Jacques Lacan who framed the phallus as a signifier for lack, which accounts for how and why men in patriarchy use masculinity as a coverup for their softness. Lacan goes on to say that man is the subject who believes he has the phallus and woman is the subject who pretends to be the phallus, thus positioning masculinity in terms of belief in possession and femininity in terms of pretense in being, all in relation to existential human troubles with lack. I appreciate your comment and hope this piece helps you meaningfully conceptualize aspects of your lived experiences!