Someone announced in our class last week that men don't cry and for the first time in my life, I publicly hit back and said, "I do".
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Someone announced in our class last week that men don't cry and for the first time in my life, I publicly hit back and said, "I do". Many in the class were shocked and didn't believe me, so I explained how I've always cried. When I was young, it was secretly but as an adult, I cry when emotion overwhelms me. I don't see it as a sign of weakness anymore. I think it's a sign of strength to accept what your body needs to do and I feel much better afterwards.
@sjpurrs depends a lot on culture / nationality - even in 1990s (when I was working as a broadcast engineer for an electronics company which provided equipment to a lot of public service broadcasters worldwide) I learned it was normal for French men to cry during stressful times (due to defective equipment, and errors from France Télécom, and TBH I couldn't even blame them for crying). It was less common amongst Germans and British (but not entirely absent, I remember sportsball player Paul Gascoigne in 1990 because he got a yellow card at the World Cup and it was viewed as a cultural sign that it was OK for British men to cry if they wanted to..)
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Someone announced in our class last week that men don't cry and for the first time in my life, I publicly hit back and said, "I do". Many in the class were shocked and didn't believe me, so I explained how I've always cried. When I was young, it was secretly but as an adult, I cry when emotion overwhelms me. I don't see it as a sign of weakness anymore. I think it's a sign of strength to accept what your body needs to do and I feel much better afterwards.
Big Respect
and
Best Teacher You just provided a valuable lesson that probably had a positive change in the lives of more than a few students.
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@sjpurrs depends a lot on culture / nationality - even in 1990s (when I was working as a broadcast engineer for an electronics company which provided equipment to a lot of public service broadcasters worldwide) I learned it was normal for French men to cry during stressful times (due to defective equipment, and errors from France Télécom, and TBH I couldn't even blame them for crying). It was less common amongst Germans and British (but not entirely absent, I remember sportsball player Paul Gascoigne in 1990 because he got a yellow card at the World Cup and it was viewed as a cultural sign that it was OK for British men to cry if they wanted to..)
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@TrueNorthSpice @sjpurrs its certainly now much more acceptable for men all across Europe to cry
As a networking and telecoms engineer who has to deal constantly with various telecoms companies I certainly didn't judge the French for crying (if anything I thought we in Britain could be more like them - Northern European men are often still more reserved about showing their emotions..)
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@sjpurrs depends a lot on culture / nationality - even in 1990s (when I was working as a broadcast engineer for an electronics company which provided equipment to a lot of public service broadcasters worldwide) I learned it was normal for French men to cry during stressful times (due to defective equipment, and errors from France Télécom, and TBH I couldn't even blame them for crying). It was less common amongst Germans and British (but not entirely absent, I remember sportsball player Paul Gascoigne in 1990 because he got a yellow card at the World Cup and it was viewed as a cultural sign that it was OK for British men to cry if they wanted to..)
@vfrmedia Yes, that was most certainly the case here but fortunately it's changed a bit. Interestingly, in our national football code, players often cry openly when they lose big games or suffer serious injuries.
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@TrueNorthSpice @sjpurrs its certainly now much more acceptable for men all across Europe to cry
As a networking and telecoms engineer who has to deal constantly with various telecoms companies I certainly didn't judge the French for crying (if anything I thought we in Britain could be more like them - Northern European men are often still more reserved about showing their emotions..)
Why judge any man for crying.
that was a rhetorical question... please no reply.
I find it perplexing you mentioning your job title. Relevancy.
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@HardBeingGreen I like that phrase, 'Happy tears'. Also, I think weddings are all choreographed with the intention of eliciting as much emotion as possible. How can you not cry at such an event?
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Someone announced in our class last week that men don't cry and for the first time in my life, I publicly hit back and said, "I do". Many in the class were shocked and didn't believe me, so I explained how I've always cried. When I was young, it was secretly but as an adult, I cry when emotion overwhelms me. I don't see it as a sign of weakness anymore. I think it's a sign of strength to accept what your body needs to do and I feel much better afterwards.
@sjpurrs Absolutely, I agree. I cry when emotion overwhelms me (sometimes it doesn't matter *which* emotion), and I don't necessarily want to be seen at the time, but I don't hide the knowledge of it, I openly speak of it.
In particular, when my son was born, I remember looking down at him in the bassinet at the hospital and knowing in that moment that nothing would ever be the same, that that was a watershed moment wherein anything before could be about me, but everything from that point on was about him, and accepting the responsibility of that. And from then on--oh, man--I tear up at the national anthem, at Remembrance Day, at diaper commercials... *I'm a big ol' softie, and I don't care who knows it!* (I'm 6'2" and just shy of 300lbs, by the way).
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@TrueNorthSpice @sjpurrs the field I worked in was (and still is) highly male-dominated, hence why it was once considered unusual for those working in it to cry or show any emotion at all (in comparison to those working in the production side of radio/TV, where it was more accepted)
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@sjpurrs Absolutely, I agree. I cry when emotion overwhelms me (sometimes it doesn't matter *which* emotion), and I don't necessarily want to be seen at the time, but I don't hide the knowledge of it, I openly speak of it.
In particular, when my son was born, I remember looking down at him in the bassinet at the hospital and knowing in that moment that nothing would ever be the same, that that was a watershed moment wherein anything before could be about me, but everything from that point on was about him, and accepting the responsibility of that. And from then on--oh, man--I tear up at the national anthem, at Remembrance Day, at diaper commercials... *I'm a big ol' softie, and I don't care who knows it!* (I'm 6'2" and just shy of 300lbs, by the way).
@ZenHeathen Thanks for sharing that. I felt exactly the same way when my kids were born and still tear up when I think back to those days.
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@TrueNorthSpice @sjpurrs the field I worked in was (and still is) highly male-dominated, hence why it was once considered unusual for those working in it to cry or show any emotion at all (in comparison to those working in the production side of radio/TV, where it was more accepted)
@vfrmedia @sjpurrs
Oddly so was mine and still is...it's difficult to find a profession that is exposed to more red neck uptight men than the one I was in.IMO, experience says, and from what I've read and heard from males, is men are afraid to show emotion when alpha type aggressive ones are nearby.
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@vfrmedia @sjpurrs
Oddly so was mine and still is...it's difficult to find a profession that is exposed to more red neck uptight men than the one I was in.IMO, experience says, and from what I've read and heard from males, is men are afraid to show emotion when alpha type aggressive ones are nearby.
@TrueNorthSpice @vfrmedia Yep, that was certainly true of me when I was young but as an adult, I've distanced myself from those type of men, so I feel much freer about expressing myself.
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@Hyperlynx Yeah, it still seems to be a thing, unfortunately.
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@Hyperlynx Exactly! Great share! "It's okay for macho men to show every emotion available". Macho Man was spot on!
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@TrueNorthSpice @vfrmedia Yep, that was certainly true of me when I was young but as an adult, I've distanced myself from those type of men, so I feel much freer about expressing myself.
I heard this quite often, including from my husband.
I'm glad you distanced yourself and feel free to be yourself.I was taught crying was shameful and only for the weak , it took years to overcome that training. It's a release, a cleansing, and a natural process no one should feel they need to hide
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@HardBeingGreen That's absolutely true! Like if you're the funeral director, you'd have to keep your emotions in check because the event is for everyone else to cry. But we're focussing on public crying here and in class, the focus was on crying in general. I mean, lots of times I choose to keep expression of any emotion to myself, like anger. I don't like to share that one.
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I heard this quite often, including from my husband.
I'm glad you distanced yourself and feel free to be yourself.I was taught crying was shameful and only for the weak , it took years to overcome that training. It's a release, a cleansing, and a natural process no one should feel they need to hide
@TrueNorthSpice @vfrmedia Beautifully said.
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Someone announced in our class last week that men don't cry and for the first time in my life, I publicly hit back and said, "I do". Many in the class were shocked and didn't believe me, so I explained how I've always cried. When I was young, it was secretly but as an adult, I cry when emotion overwhelms me. I don't see it as a sign of weakness anymore. I think it's a sign of strength to accept what your body needs to do and I feel much better afterwards.
@sjpurrs If you haven't already, you should check out Keith from the Great Pottery Showdown. He cries when he sees contestants make something particularly beautiful or overcome a challenge. Unfortunately it's on Amazon Prime.
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@sjpurrs If you haven't already, you should check out Keith from the Great Pottery Showdown. He cries when he sees contestants make something particularly beautiful or overcome a challenge. Unfortunately it's on Amazon Prime.
@bamfingle I will! Sounds like a great show.
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@HardBeingGreen I like that phrase, 'Happy tears'. Also, I think weddings are all choreographed with the intention of eliciting as much emotion as possible. How can you not cry at such an event?
