Why We Need to Talk About Tears: Crying, Gender, and Authentic Leadership
Why the fuss? Crying is human.
Like many others, I read with interest the articles about Rachel Reeves becoming emotional in the House of Commons yesterday. Reeves’ tears raise big questions for us all.
What struck me most wasn’t the fact that she cried – it was the reaction.
We’re still at a point where a woman showing emotion is headline news. Yet if a man were in that same moment – feeling the pressure, the pride, the significance – and held it all in, we’d praise his “composure” while ignoring the cost of that suppression.
The truth is, crying is a natural human response. We all have emotions. But boys are still often taught to hide theirs, while women are judged for showing them. That’s a lose-lose situation.
Maybe what we really need is not less emotion in leadership – but more authenticity in all of us. Maybe it’s time men learned to cry again. It might make us healthier, more connected, and more human.
So rather than questioning Rachel Reeves’ tears, maybe we should be asking why we’re still uncomfortable with something so deeply human – and what that says about our expectations of both women and men in leadership.