Hey There!
So this week, for whatever reason, I started thinking about societal norms. Living in America and keeping up with all these can's and cannot's is actually quite difficult, if you really sit and think about it for a second. It gets even more difficult when you actually try to limit your behavior to nicely fit into these ideals that society deems acceptable.
As I scrolled through my timeline on Twitter, I came across this tweet. It perfectly commented on a societal norm that is often seen as somewhat taboo, especially for men. Crying.
I think it's safe to say that in society, crying is seen as a weakness, regardless of one's gender. When someone cries, they're usually in a vulnerable state and can be manipulated or hurt more easily. Sometimes I wonder where this whole perception of crying really started because I don't know about you but after a good cry, I start to feel so much better about whatever I'm going through! Sometimes, it's actually great to cry because it's a way to release whatever you're feeling at the time. Yeah, I too get sucked into the societal view that crying equals weakness so I try not to cry too often but when I do, it feels like such a relief.
What I found especially awesome about this tweet was the last sentence, "It means you've been too strong for too long." It's great because often times, people do tend to bottle up their emotions and try to stay strong. But in reality, there comes a time when that hard shell cracks and bam, you have no other choice but to cry and let it all go. Then again, I also have to consider that when people cry, it could be for a variety of reasons: happiness, sadness, anger, excitement. A person isn't necessarily "weak" if they're so happy about something that they become overjoyed and start to cry. If anything, that's actually really sweet, especially if it's a guy! In my opinion, this whole societal perception of crying just really sucks. I say, cry if you want to! Let it all out.
Coming from a guy its not always the best thing to be seen crying because of society's expectation like you said. I don't really cry but it is natural thing that covers a wide spectrum of emotion. It is a healthy thing to do so people should be more accepting for what it is and not just assume people are weak.
ReplyDeleteI think that there are few things more therapeutic than crying something out. That being said, I definitely agree that having someone see you cry is seen almost as an embarrassment. I know that personally I never try to cry in front of people because I don't want to be perceived as overly sensitive. I think that it should be embraced because it is much less healthy to bottle up emotion.
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