Does our society encourage boys not to cry?

[donnashuggy]

Can't find what I was reading today (sorry) but the suggestion was that it was/is quite damaging that it is discouraged in our society.

I personally like men and boys to cry and show emotion, 

Do you think it is damaging?

I'm not talking about babies btw.

[freddie*rooster]

The best man cry I have ever witnessed was Prince Fredrick when Mary walked down the isle awwwwwww *wipes eyes*

[fourandsixpants]

Men probably view it as a sign of weakness and that some other males may challenge them to a dual etc or take them 'down', call them a sissy but would guess that any man can be made to cry depends what the situation is and their frame of mind at the time.

I don't view anyone crying as a weak person at all. I don't cry much and I'm female. I cried when my Grandad passed away and my Mum. Cried the most when my dear dog passed away. Feel guilty for having cried more when my dog died than for my dear Mother. Guess I'm not totally over the passing and letting go of my Mum I reckon. Too much emotion.

Crying has positive benefits. A cleansing effect, clears the path so you can move on with the next project. Better to cry than to keep pent up unexpressed emotions from becoming entangled with other emotions like anger for example.

Everyone on the count of three have a bawl LOL

[*mrgrizz*]

yes

[boris1gary]

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@paintsew007 wrote:

Men probably view it as a sign of weakness and that some other males may challenge them to a dual etc or take them 'down', call them a sissy but would guess that any man can be made to cry depends what the situation is and their frame of mind at the time.

I don't view anyone crying as a weak person at all. I don't cry much and I'm female. I cried when my Grandad passed away and my Mum. Cried the most when my dear dog passed away. Feel guilty for having cried more when my dog died than for my dear Mother. Guess I'm not totally over the passing and letting go of my Mum I reckon. Too much emotion.

Crying has positive benefits. A cleansing effect, clears the path so you can move on with the next project. Better to cry than to keep pent up unexpressed emotions from becoming entangled with other emotions like anger for example.

Everyone on the count of three have a bawl LOL

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awwwww now i feel bad... maybe that's why i get called the ice queen.

[ten*teeny*tiny*toes]

I would encourage parents of both boys and girls to make sure that their kids can express their emotions.

Never would have dreamt that our girl would have issues... (we too were tough and strong suck it up people, comes from our own harsh upbringings), but she had love and praise and two loving parents, things we both missed.

In hindsight she was so gentle she was afraid of apearing weak...in our efforts to make a better life for her we have perhaps tried too hard and also failed her.

It is critically important to encourage anger, frustration, sadness and tantrums in our children. My girl was such a goodie two shoes everyone got a shock when she was any thing but otherwise and she quickly reeled all the emotions back in. 

[freakiness · Accepted solution]

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@donnashuggy wrote:

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@patchoo78 wrote:

There is definitely a "suck it up" attitude towards men

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Must make it difficult for them when they really want to cry, having a cry can relieve a lot of stress and is probably good for you.

I don't know but that is what my instincts tell me.

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I think the suck it up attitude has been created by men over the generations.  It's not healthy and it's not necessary.  There is nothing wrong with expressing emotions as you feel them.  Putting a lid on them completely just seems to lead to explosive reactions at some later stage.

[boris1gary]

Boys do cry and even if encouraged by parents (to cry) they do (mostly) stop doing it sometime in early school days. Doesn't mean they don't still cry, just do it privately. When my son was in a soccer team, one of his mates would cry all the time and his Dad would go running onto the pitch. It was embarrassing and lame, I had to struggle not to laugh at them and ask them to cut it out. 

[lloydslights]

Not much compassion for a little boy who apparently didn't want to play but was being pushed by his dad to do so.  What a crying shame.

DEB

[donnashuggy]

Yes I think it has been created by men too, mother's are probably less likely to discourage it.

[boris1gary]

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@lloydslights wrote:

Not much compassion for a little boy who apparently didn't want to play but was being pushed by his dad to do so.  What a crying shame.

DEB

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The boy did want to play and wasn't pushed by his Dad at all. I spent time socially with them and they were a very nice family, Dad would run onto the pitch and baby him, the team wasn't that young either.