Another blog post by PoliSci and WGS student Matana Skoye has been published in the FOA Work of Arts blog!
Student Voices: Sensitivity as a Source of Strength
It starts from a young age. We are told not to cry, not to be a sissy and to be tough enough to hold everything in. If you do cry, you are shamed, thought of as weak, irrational or even worse- girly.
There are so many things wrong with this message.
First off, an emotional person isn't an irrational person. We need to stop labelling people who express their emotions. There is nothing irrational about articulating one's own feelings, even if it involves crying. These notions shame people who are experiencing emotions into hiding them, apologizing for them or justifying them. This has a negative impact on a person's mental health because it questions their rationality in a time of vulnerability, on top of silencing their concerns.
Click here to read the rest of Matana's article...
Click here to see Matana's article featured in the Faculty of Arts Anthology e-Newsletter!