Is a Career Woman Allowed to Cry?

The problem with The Crying Moment is how it got covered in mainstream media and perpetuated as a fantasy that never happened. That day, Fox News proudly proclaimed: Hillary can't take the pressure, breaks down in New Hampshire ... something to that effect, as if she were crying about losing Iowa to Obama. Then I heard the actual replay over news radio that evening. It had nothing to do with campaign pressure or Obama. She was genuinely (perhaps) addressing her motivation for running. So how does that devolve into "presidents don't cry" and "if she can't handle this how can she handle the presidency"?!? It is maddening to me. Didn't Mitt Romney tear up on Jay Leno or some such nonsense? Doesn't Rudy choke up endlessly reminding us about 9/11? Why is that not a problem? Why does that not become a gender issue? It's absolutely ridiculous and downright dangerous how the mainstream media dictates events rather than presenting facts and letting us decide (perfect example: NBC litigating to keep Kucinich off the Vegas debate stage -- how dare they? why does no one know about it or care? oh, that's right, because the media doesn't report what it doesn't want to, what doesn't fit into the predetermined narrative about this interminable, not-likely-to-even-happen election!

Emotional crying isn't necessarily something we can control. Women cry more easily than men because we have more prolactin, a hormone released under stress, in our blood. Read about it here:
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/biology/b103/f03/web3/n1kaim.html

It's distressing to me that in 2008 we are still having the same conversation that drove all those films from the 30s on that showed a subservient woman dissolving in tears at work. I work in a virtually all male work environment. A female colleague was threatened with dismissal by our supervisor and started to cry. Now she's a wreck thinking that they can prod her whenever they want and keep her scared and subservient. I agree. I don't cry. For a woman to cry at work reinforces stereotypical attitudes towards women and sets up a bad dynamic with a male counterpart. Never ever give away your power.

Contrary to popular belief, crying does not imply weakness, irrationality or femininity. It's an innate human coping mechanism in reaction to something that has struck a cord in our hearts (hearts that haven't turned to coal or are mechanical).
Hilary's reaction to the question showed passion and an openess that struck a cord among many people. The question posed wasn't about foreign policy or national security, it was about coping with the stress of running for President, which would probably make any human weep...

ooops, I meant to say ' gender does not define who will cry in public."

I took a job at a bank not far from my house. (I am SO not a teller! LOL) I took it simply for the convenience.

My immediate supervisor was 22 years old, from a drastically different part of the country, and, while I have never seen anyone (especially her age) who knew the job as well as she did, she had NO clue as to how to manage people. For example, she would stand over me, watching me...no big deal. However, if I tried to use the mouse instead of a function key to move around the screen, she would reach over and hit escape. Supposedly, it was to prevent repetitive motion injuries. However, it broke my concentration totally and it took me a short time to get back into the rhythm of my job...important, when you have a drive-through backed up to the street.

I understand the thinking behind it, but it seemed to me that the focus should be on the actual functions of my job, and allowing me to get up to speed as quickly as possible. The "niceties" such as function key rather than mouse could have waited until I was more comfortable.

She was a master at telling (not asking) employees to do something, and before they even got started on that, telling them to do something else, then ridiculing them for not having the first (OR second, or third) tasks completed. She vacillated between trying to be buddies with the younger kids who worked with us who were close to her age, and being Attila the Hun. TERRIBLE manager.

Regardless, the result of this type of action actually did bring me to tears a couple of times on the job.

Am I whining about nothing?

I know if I was at a board meeting and the chairwoman started crying, I would think she was totally irrational, not passionate. If she can't handle the stress of campaigning, she sure as heck can't handle the stress of being president of the most powerful country in the world. Just like if someone started crying during an interview, you know they wouldn't be able to handle the stress of the actual job. I know I wouldnt hire someone who got weepy and choked up from the stress of an interview!

Yes, for goodness sake. This whole "debate" on women versus emotion is enough to make me cry!

Goes without saying but I guess I'm saying it anyway: Showing emotion doesn't mean you're weak.

Unfortunately, as long as the topic sells papers and gets eyes glued to television & computer screens, I guess the media will continue to make a big deal of it.

In regards to the topic of showing public emotion, gender does define who will do it. Just last night in a post game interview, a Dallas Cowboy football player ( Terrell O.) got choked up while talking about his team. There should not have been so much emphasis on Hilary's emotion and her gender. I agree, if you are passionate about something, it will show.