Man brings pink lunchbox to work to show young relative ‘there’s no one way to be a man’

'Men can be colourful. Men can be expressive. Men can be emotional and silly and gleeful'

Facebook (David Pendragon)

It’s not every day you see a pink, cat-covered lunchbox lurking around a corporate office.

However, that didn’t stop David Pendragon from bringing his eccentric food container to work one day in support of his cousin’s 10-year-old son, who was being teased at school for carrying the same lunchbox.

Writing in a Facebook post - which has since gone viral - he explained he wanted to teach his young relative an important lesson about gender stereotypes and show him that “there’s no one way to be a man”.

The Charlotte, North Carolina-based office worker wrote that his cousin Emily’s son Ryker adores cats and was “very excited” when he received his new lunchbox.

“Unfortunately because of its colours, or because it has cats, or both, he was teased about it by other boys in his class,” Pendragon explained.

“He even wanted to stop taking his lunch so he wouldn't be teased about it any longer.”

In a bid to show Ryker that his cat-covered lunchbox was nothing to be ashamed of, Pendragon decided to buy an exact replica and take it into work with him “to show him that a man can love whatever he wants and not be afraid to express his love.”

“I have ordered the same lunchbox for myself and proudly carried it to work today at my large, conservative, corporate workplace,” he said, adding that he happily shared his reasons for carrying the lunchbox with his colleagues, all of whom supported Ryker.

“There's no one way to be a man. Men can be colourful. Men can be expressive. Men can be emotional and silly and gleeful,” he added.

“I love my new lunchbox and I hope Ryker and all the other boys out there can see that their passion and self-expression is never something to be ashamed of.”

After uploading a photo of himself carrying the lunchbox to work on Monday, Pendragon’s post has gone viral and has since been shared more than 42,800 times.

The post has also been inundated with supportive comments from friends, family and strangers, all praising Pendragon for his bold initiative and sharing their support for Ryker.

“Good on you and Ryker. It's a beautiful pattern,” wrote one Facebook user.

“Shame on the children for trying to humiliate Ryker and the teachers/staff for not admonishing those children.”

“I hope Ryker gets to see all of the support he is getting,” added another, “just be you little man.”