Women & Emotions: A Deeper Look

[Syndra]

okay I've read that women are more emotional than guys because of their biological/reproductive/hormone systems or whatever. But why is this, exactly, and what amount does it affect them, and how does it affect different women different ways. thanks.

 

[Kerrie]

i think men can be equally emotional as women, they just express it differently. they don't cry and sob like women tend to, but often times their emotions come out as anger.

 

[Mariko]

Also society makes it acceptable for women to be emotional, where it's not so for men. I think the hormones do play a big part in mood swings take for example post partum depression this is a result of the hormonal change from being pregnant 9 months to not being so.

 

[Astronuc]

I agree with Kerrie and Mariko.

Men often internalize their emotions, which leads to stress, and this may be manifest in anger.

Expression of positive emotions, such as joy or happiness, is more acceptable for men than emotions such as sadness. Unfortunately, in many cultures crying is seen as a sign of weakness for men. However, this is not true. It is a sign of emotional maturity.

 

[Antiphon]

I agree with the statements above.

But I also think there is a basic difference between the genders in what I'll
call "temperment" or "approach". I believe the differences have come about
through evolutionary forces where (for obvious biophysical reasons) men
have hunted and warred with other groups to protect resources while
women either gathered (food, water) and/or have performed essential
tasks "back at the village".

Hunting and war is a goal-directed activity which totally fails if decisions are made
by consensus. There's no time for that. A leader must be chosen who's
orders are be followed without question during the hunt. Otherwise the
animal(s) will escape.

But back at the village, the difficult task of *utilizing* the group's
resources is much better served by consensus than by command action.
This is why women inherently think of relations in terms of "fairness".
Fairness is a concept that works well to decide how to split the meat,
but its an awful principle arround which to organize a goal-directed
campaigne be that a hunt or a new product marketing effort.

This is why women have a very diffcult time wielding authority in the
modern workplace. They often will either clobber you over the head
and get a reputation as a "b*tch" or they will not take effective charge
to provide the right amount of leadership.



The corresponding skill which most males have built into them is the
ability to wield authority without humilitating those being directed.
Anyone who's ever had a female boss will know what I'm talking about.

The corresponding skill which most women have built into them are the
ability to multitask relate effectively to the people around them
emotionally because in a consensus setting or one-on-one this works best.
Anyone who's ever had to have a man make them feel better about
a painful breakup will know what I mean. Men will try to "solve the
problem" because they're wired for goal-directed activity. But this
is toally ineffective to the task at hand. Women are much better
"shoulders to to cry on" which is something the children of a village
understand when they get stung by a bee.

 

[Mariko]

Heh- Yes I have most definitely noticed the differences between a Male boss vs a female boss but there's always an exception to the rules. I have found being a woman that I do not like to be the boss I don't like telling people what to do and yet I have no problem being told what to do I kind of pride myself on being a good worker. Yes men will try to solve problems where women will speak their minds just for validation. a good book to refer to on this subject would be the famous "Women are from Venus and men are from Mars."

But on a different note I think the reasons for a woman being emotional would stem from a few factors being genetics, age, situations, environment, hormones ect.. not all that different than men but we have more hormone fluctuations and things like puberty medupause ect all play in as a factor