A while ago we reported on the moving public moment in which an Australian football player, very far from home, broke down in tears over missing his family:
Archie Wilson really had the feels for a minute when asked how he felt about being 10,000 miles away from his beloved family:
And we admit, we were moved. It's hard not to get choked up over a young man who loves his parents and brothers that much.
But since nothing can just be appreciated in the present cultural moment, of course young Mr. Wilson's brief display of emotion had to become a signaling moment for something else. Namely:
However, Matt Walsh was not having it.
As is often the case, the answer here is a bit divided:
In fact, the question at issue here should be more clearly and plainly stated. The issue is not "Should men express their emotions?" but rather:
Should men express their emotions like women do?
(Here's a spoiler for you:)
Let's break it down for you:
Yes, it actually is appealing to most women that a man can properly feel his emotions.
There are times — relatively few of them, but they do exist — when it is appropriate for a man to cry. When someone close to him dies, when his son graduates from Marine boot camp, other instances when swells of feeling overwhelm a man's normally staid emotions: Yes, a few tears in these circumstances are fine, and appropriate. In times of great and profound tragedy and devastation, sobbing is equally understandable.At the same time, nearly all women are going to be unhappy if a man cries like women do.
It's very impolitic to mention this these days, but women on average cry a lot more easily than men do. It's just the way God made us. It's silly to deny it. Women are often more easily swamped in the short-term by emotional stimuli.
Every husband has experienced it: His wife might get home from work one day crying heavily, and it turns out that she just had a stressful day at work, and then someone cut her off on the highway, and then she stubbed her toe coming up the front walk. Boom: Tears. There's no shame in it, ladies.
But a husband breaking down and crying under the same stressors would be — properly and understandably — regarded as suffering from something acute and concerning.
No matter what they say, the vast majority of women would greatly prefer a man who was more in control of his emotions than one who cried more like a woman.
Indeed, consider how an advocate of men "showing their emotions" inadvertently admits as much:
Translation: If you "sob uncontrollably" in front of a woman, she will take you out of the "potential husband" category and into the friend-zone real quick.
Big takeaway: Fellas, it is indeed okay to cry. But don't cry like your girlfriend or wife cries. It won't end well.
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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Not the Bee or any of its affiliates.
