27 Women Ask The Question They’ve Always Wanted To Know About Men (And 27 Men Answer)

By Thought Catalog,

4. SHOWING EMOTIONS

Q:  “Why do you think it’s not okay to show ‘weak’ feelings/emotions? Where does that pressure come from?”
—Ratsarefats

A: “We’re taught quite explicitly by virtually everyone around us our entire lives.

Quit crying like a little girl. Quit pouting. I didn’t know you had a vagina. Pick your lip up. Toughen up. Don’t be a pussy. Man up. Quit being a little bitch. Oh princess, are you okay? Do you need a tissue?

The obvious extension of this is that women (or anyone who shows any emotion besides righteous fury) are weak.

This comes in equal parts from men AND women in our lives, and then especially from our own peer groups (who are enforcing what they are also being taught).”
—throwaway1point1

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Trace the scars life has left you. It will remind you that at one point, you fought for something. You believed.

Trace the scars life has left you. It will remind you that at one point, you fought for something. You believed.

“You are the only person who gets to decide if you are happy or not—do not put your happiness into the hands of other people. Do not make it contingent on their acceptance of you or their feelings for you. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if someone dislikes you or if someone doesn’t want to be with you. All that matters is that you are happy with the person you are becoming. All that matters is that you like yourself, that you are proud of what you are putting out into the world. You are in charge of your joy, of your worth. You get to be your own validation. Please don’t ever forget that.” — Bianca Sparacino

Excerpted from The Strength In Our Scars by Bianca Sparacino.

Trace the scars life has left you. It will remind you that at one point, you fought for something. You believed.

Trace the scars life has left you. It will remind you that at one point, you fought for something. You believed.

“You are the only person who gets to decide if you are happy or not—do not put your happiness into the hands of other people. Do not make it contingent on their acceptance of you or their feelings for you. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if someone dislikes you or if someone doesn’t want to be with you. All that matters is that you are happy with the person you are becoming. All that matters is that you like yourself, that you are proud of what you are putting out into the world. You are in charge of your joy, of your worth. You get to be your own validation. Please don’t ever forget that.” — Bianca Sparacino

Excerpted from The Strength In Our Scars by Bianca Sparacino.

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