Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Women are Emotional

If I hear someone describe me one more time as ‘emotional’ I will scream.

People are emotional. It’s is proven that there is no such thing as true objectivity though there can be situational disinterest and distance.

However, our emotions colour everything we do - regardless of gender. We decide if we ‘liked’ how a meeting went, if we are ‘happy’ with outcomes, if we are ‘uncomfortable’ with a situation, if we are ‘worried’ about the market. All acceptable emotional responses.

We react emotionally to events and people and then rationalize why we feel that way.

So why accuse women of being ‘emotional’ - very Victorian and archaic!

It’s a standard response when the accuser is either uncomfortable with the emotion being expressed or when the emotion doesn’t reflect what the accuser feels should be the proper response. (making the accuser the emotional one, yes?)

When you are mentoring, keep in mind that emotion is another feature of our mentorees. It can be coached; it can be tamped; it can be explored. It shouldn’t be a bad thing - for either gender.

1 comment:

Unknown Partner said...

One of my favourite books is titled Conscious Loving, and has a section devoted to the fact that you can't change what you feel. You can however change how you react to what you feel, thereby changing outcomes and even how you perceive future events. But if you're angry or sad or worried, you just are, and no amount of beating up on yourself will change that. But what are you going to do about it? :)