The Emotional Female

By: Melinda Cochrane - Contributing Writer

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“ I'm an emotional person and that's who I am. I am passionate about things about life and I will always be.” Justin Trudeau - Top Ten with the PM

Watching Justin Trudeau’s Year in Review from my sofa in Canada left me as a woman reassured that my emotional and passionate side did not hinder my leadership ability or my success. He was describing his feelings toward the death of a Canadian icon- Gord Downie. His none apologetic stance for his emotions and remorse left me encouraged as a woman.

Women are often described as over emotional when others feel uncomfortable with the same range of emotions Trudeau showed openly. As women, most of us can recall someone at one point telling us were overemotional or overreacting and the worse label ‘crazy’ for showing how we feel. When watching him so willingly show emotion- I wondered if he were a female would it have been perceived as endearing and would I have felt the same way about it.

As a passionate woman, there have been many times my emotions have come out in front of others about the things I love. The reaction by some is a positive affirmation, but others seem to stare at me wondering why I am so passionate.

These types of reactions to female emotion are a direct result of how we teach males to deal with emotions. As a society, we have taught them to hide tears, to not show feelings and then when they don’t, we call them ‘cold and uncaring.” For some males, this sentiment toward emotion then permeates their own reactions toward our expression of emotion. We are as a society creating a crazy-making situation and as a result, couples are unable to cope with one another’s range of feelings. Perhaps, it has also resulted in higher divorce rates- if we don’t get one another- how can we stay together.

“ Men are socialized to be disconnected from their emotions… that it is feminine...”  Harris O’Malley, The Washington Post.

But, how do we remedy this? How do we change the societal expectations of the past? Maybe, men like Trudeau, can lead the way. Perhaps, allowing men space to openly express their pain will allow them to better understand us. As the show ended, his eyes filled with tears left me reassured as a woman that the next time I feel passionate in public or otherwise- it does not diminish my abilities and it does not mean I am crazy.

By Melinda Cochrane - melindacochraneinternationalbo oks.com

To watch the full interview follow this link.
​https://www.ctvnews.ca/politic s/top-10-with-the-pm-full- interview-transcript-1.3732947

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