I do think there is a difference between how men and women are socialized to express emotions but I cannot STAND when men twist that to imply that little girls are never told to “stop crying” or women just have a peachy easy time expressing emotion while men are forced to suffer in silence. Like literally women and girls are CONstantly told that we’re hysterical and overdramatic and irrational for expressing emotion and we explicitly get taken less seriously than men do when we express emotion. Be for real.
It is a special kind of evil and sexist that toxic ppl have overblown the struggle men have with things like “boys don’t cry.” We have empathy and acknowledge that struggle and agreed that it needs to be talked about!! …But then too many of them turn around and act like they have it *worse* than women and spread the lie that women are “allowed” to be emotional.
Meanwhile, women have always been punished for being emotional. And, often we are punished in *actual systematic ways.* It is women who were sent away to abusive mental wards for being “hysterical.” It is women who have been denied government power or any kind of leadership role based on being “too emotional.” It is women who are treated like “crazy bitches” when they finally crack after suffering silently under abusive family or partners. Men as a class — throughout all history and all cultures — have never been barred from power, money, and leadership for being “emotional.” :/
It is so beyond frustrating to hold space for the way patriarchy hurts men, only for some ppl to manipulate this into covering up women’s systematic oppression. And they completely miss how this is a common sexist tactic!! That even some self-proclaimed activists fall for! Men’s pain is always taken more seriously than women’s! We even have proof of this when talking about literal physical pain, because DOCTORS do this too! It’s feminism 101 😭
