I had a weird thing happen that kind of fucked me up. I haven’t cried or been able to cry since. Lost a close relative and I saw another explain what happened (it was particularly sad). When he was explaining he started to begin tearing up but swallowed and stone faced. He finished explaining and I haven’t been able to cry since. For clarity, I’ve never had a problem showing emotions or crying. I used to cry at inspirational stuff or sad stuff. Its been around six months now. So when’s the last time you cried? Maybe hearing some stuff will loosen me up.
I stopped crying at 8 (because I was told to man up) and I’ve cried probably a handful of times since then. I’ve been working pretty hard on it and the first time I sobbed as an adult was so freeing. I haven’t gotten it back since, and I still get stuck in the stone face mode most of the time. I got pretty close watching “no other land” which was a devastating watch.
As a guy there is also a lot of shame and fear around crying. Especially around women. I’m scared of having my partner get the ick and not feel like I’m manly enough to be attractive and dominant anymore. I’d have an easier time crying around men because even if they don’t think I’m very manly, that’s not a big part of my social personality. At work of course it would be completely devastating…
I’m trying to make sure my kids all feel comfortable crying regardless of gender. Of course there is only so much you can do against social norms.