Yeah, I've done that in the past. Started to get overwhelmed by all the stimuli life was throwing at me until I had a complete meltdown and lost my grip on logic. Reverted back to being a five year old with all the name calling, pouting, stamping of feet and basically had me a good old temper tantrum. When it was over and I got a grip on my logical self, my adult self, I was horrified. I grabbed on the that immaturity and said "God! I am such a girl!" So, before you say anything, let me pop that younger me upside the head for that comment.
Being emotional has nothing to do with being a girl. It has everything to do with our level of emotional maturity and ability to cope with stress. When we were younger, and I'm talking back to toddlerhood, we had no coping mechanism for stress. Things got too stressful and we did what worked for months. Cried like babies, threw things, tossed ourselves on the floor and screamed at the top of our lungs. No matter how obnoxious and nerve wracking our meltdown seemed to everyone else. Hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it, right? That's not saying that letting your emotions out is a bad thing. We just need to find a better outlet for all that.
I think that statement that we are all kids at heart is true. We are underneath the veneer of poised adulthood. We still giggle at cartoons, like to play the occasional video game, hang out with our friends and shoot the breeze. I've always seen work as just another form of school. School taught us social interaction between other children and work teaches us social interaction between adults. The one real thing we have to show after years of life is the quality of the relationships we forge. No one sits at your funeral saying "She/he had the best degrees." or "Man, that car he/she had was the shit". It's mainly "She/he was such a nice person. So nice and giving. Why?" or "They were such a crusty old scrooge. Such an asshole. Thought he/she was too mean to die". Ya ken?
Emotions aren't gender specific. Men have emotional meltdowns too. They throw stuff, they yell, scream and cry. I wouldn't dare call a 6 foot 6 big burly guy, or even a 5 foot 3 slender guy, who's expressing how he feels; a girl. That's insulting for both him and me. I'd be putting us both down by implying that 1. showing emotion is not manly and 2. that being a woman is the epitome of weakness. Now, I don't know about you, but I'm not weak. Whatever life throws my way I keep on getting up and moving on. Take the emotional outbreak in the context it's displayed. If a guy, or gal, is being overly emotional to the point where they are wallowing in self-pity that's not being "a girl" that's being an emotionally immature wreck.
Look at it as a good thing. Strength is tempered not simply by conflict but what we bring with us out the other side. What we learn. Expressing emotion shows extreme strength, especially if that person is still going on day after day working through it. Now if they're being manipulative with their emotional outbreaks...then they're just being an immature little shit. Emotional maturity is our ability to handle tough situations and it has to start development somewhere. So enough already with the "You're such a girl!" crap. Call it what it is; emotional immaturity.
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