The right to cry doesn't belong to a gender

Amongst the many stereotypes we live with, the one that annoys me the most is the one that portrays women as weak. From everyday life to TV shows and ads, there’s always a girl who plays the damsel in distress opposed the guy that somehow is always the strong savior.

Take an everyday scenario that is regularly used in ads of all kind.
A pretty girl accidental drops her bag and books in the middle of the street and the poor girl looks like she’s going to cry because… oh, the tragedy! Her notebook and keys are on the ground. Yes, the need for a man to scoop her stuff up in his arms, along with her, is vital. It’s love at first sight so they end up riding off into the sunset in his fancy car. It makes a beautiful image and I have nothing against helping someone in need. The problem is, there was no one really in need for said help.

No, thank you. I can pick up my damn pen myself.

Portraying women as weak has to stop. Of course, most women don’t have the same physical strength of a man. I can accept, to some level, that most women can’t do certain things like push a whole car or a heavy couch. That’s simple biology. But have you seen a mother trying to save her child in danger? She will hold up a whole house by herself if she needs to. She’ll gain all the superstrength needed – and that strength derives from the emotional power that’s moving her.

But girls are still weak – I’m talking about the emotional weakness. The idea that girls can’t handle pressure, therefore they should avoid ‘manly’ jobs, that will probably require a lot of their time, because they will get stressed out at some point. Girls can’t raise their voice because they’re weak, they won’t yell back at you because they’re weak, they won’t hit you back because they’re weak. The only thing girls are not weak for is crying. Bullshit.

Tears are, according to some people, our strongest weapon. A girl can just cry and the world will fall at her feet whereas a man can’t; he has to be strong and stoic because crying is girly.

The definition of crying, as it was found in dictionary: “To produce tears from your eyes often while making loud sounds because of pain, sorrow, or other strong emotions.”

Do you see anything related to gender? Because I don’t. Crying has nothing to do with your genitals. It’s a primal need; the need to just let it –all your pain, whether physical or emotional– out. Everyone cries. You cried when you were a baby and you have cried since many, many times. I cry, your mom cries, your dad cries and I’m positive even Dwayne Johnson cries.

Tears don’t have a gender; they don’t care about your job, your social status or your image – and they certainly don’t give a fuck if you’re a girl or a boy; or neither. They will come in moments of sadness and pain, in moments of anger and distress, in moments of happiness and bliss. Also they will come when you’re chopping up onions.

There’s nothing girly about crying and it shouldn’t be used to make women feel weak. It also shouldn’t be banned from men like the forbidden fruit. And if you’re so macho that you think crying is beneath you, I could give you a huge list of powerful men that have been caught crying. For now though, I will only mention one.

In the famous work of Homer, The Iliad, when Achilles was humiliated by Agamemnon, he went to his mother, crying, and seeking her comfort. He, a demi-God, dared to let his tears flow. I’m pretty sure you can manage to do the same and without putting women down in the process.