Sexist Crap About Crying In The WorkplaceReaders of this blog are well aware that I am anti-sexism. If not, you should read my earlier post about Barbie.
In any event, the New York Times published a story yesterday about women crying in the workplace. Amongst many of the horribly innacurate assumptions we are supposed to ingest as blind fact is the assertion that men no longer cry in the workplace because they learned 2 centuries ago that it was not to their benefit.
Seriously--what the fuck? Maybe someone should remind the author-posing-as-journalist that evolution does not work that way. Secondly, we only have societal norms because they have been built up by people in power over time and they have the means and authority to reinforce them, right or wrong. Furthermore, the author makes no challenge of the underlying societal and systemic causes of vehement mores against crying in the workplace (and that the criticism is only directed at women) nor does the author even try to find people who could speak in favor of it or from another point of view.
It is well-known scientific fact that crying releases stress, because generating tears releases hormones that alleviate tension. In fact, after a build-up of stress, the body may well try and force you to cry, as a natural autonomic nervous system response. Additionally, it is essential for the vitality of the immune system to cry when stressed, because it flushes out toxins. For any jackasses out there who do not believe me, look it up.
Instead of berating women and men for a natural reaction to stress, maybe we should be pointing fingers at the situations which cause stress or why it is that crying is so taboo under capitalism.
