Gender's Role in Expression of Emotions

Society has established norms as well as expectations on how both men and women should express their emotions. Boys are told to suck it up, while girls are told to let it all out. The stereotypes of reserved men and emotional women are widespread and do affect the way both boys and girls are raised and their reactions to various situations. As a result, men appear to be less emotional than women. In fact, strong evidence has been found that there are differences in the way men and women detect, process, and express emotion in many researches and experiments. However, there are other studies that show men and women share more emotional similarities than differences (Argosy University, 2015 and Dennis T. and Lindsey M., 2015).

Growing up, I have learned to suck it up or keep it all inside. Men were not supposed to show any sign of emotional weakness especially in front of others. As a result, my way of communicating my true feeling sometimes can be very difficult to a point sometimes the best thing I feel like doing is not to say anything at all, especially when I’m upset. This has caused numerous problems in my past relationships and my professional world.

My exes would probably reefer to me as someone who has successfully cultivate his ability to ignore people, even in the most furious, upsetting, or stressful situation; which in turn anger them a lot more. When it comes to my co-workers in the past, they would probably reefer to me as being uncooperative, work better alone, and only communicate to others if I have to. But through the years I have learned that expressing myself to others has nothing to do with being weak or strong, or being a man or woman.

The truth is, to start and maintain any type of relationship, it is imperative for communication to play an important role in that relationship. Everyone should be able to express their emotion freely in my opinion, even though there will still be great differences on how each gender express their emotion. This ability to express my emotion to others effectively has helped me over the years to start and maintain a healthy romantic relationship where communication plays an important role (Bournemouth University, 2015).

References

Argosy University (2015). Emotion. Gender: Psychological Perspectives, 5th Edition. Data Retrieved on 04/18/2015, from: https://digitalbookshelf.argosy.edu/#/books/0558217257/pages/48386447?return=/books/0558217257/outline/10

Bournemouth University (2015). Emotional Expression in men and Women. Data Retrieved on 04/18/2015, from: http://www.emotionalprocessing.org/Full%20World%20of%20emotions/Emotional%20Processing%20&%20Gender/Emotional%20expression%20in%20men%20&%20women.html

Dennis T. and Lindsey M. (2015). Gender Differences in Emotional Health. Data Retrieved on 04/18/2015, from: http://www.everydayhealth.com/emotional-health/gender-differences-in-emotional-health.aspx