Women aren’t weak, despite what you may think. Can the average guy deadlift more? Probably. Can they run faster? Most of the time. Do males cry less often? Usually, yes. But we no longer live in a society where one’s survival is dependent on physical strength or emotional coldness.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. We can’t have people crying all over the workplace. (Tear stains on the cubicle!!) It’s not that people are cold, they just control their emotions. Well, emotional control is important for all emotions: sadness and pain, anger and jealousy. However, in our society, crying is seen as a weakness, but aggression is hardly seen as a fault. But, emotions have their place, and they should not be constantly contained. What else could separate us as humans? We feel.
Both fortunately and unfortunately, females are expected to be emotional, unlike males who are often expected to show no emotion at all. But it takes courage for any gender to show emotion, especially the taboo ones. Do you think it's easy to be the counselor, to listen to others’ problems and cry with them? I for one don’t enjoy crying. Do you think it’s easy to open up and tell someone about your hopes, dreams, and fears? No, it's vulnerable and embarrassing.
It’s easy to shut yourself off to the world, especially when you're a guy and you're praised for being tough. But it hurts to feel! True toughness comes from allowing emotional responses, despite the pain. This is a woman's strength, but it can be a man's strength too if he is willing. It takes time and energy to love others, to cry and laugh when they cry and laugh. It’s taxing, and it could be time more productively spent… which is exactly why it takes bravery to do so. It takes guts to allow yourself to experience what it means to be human fully. If only society would allow our men to be strong in this way.
Men, learn from women that being strong is not wearing armor. Armor protects fragile things. If anyone, of any gender wants to be firm, sound, and secure, they must do that from the inside out, and the first step is taking advantage of what makes us human- our empathy.
