Maxwell Gjeltema

AP Language

Whetstone 1 March 2011 Emotional Difference Emotion is something that affects our lives daily and changes with every decision we make. It reflects upon being in love, being angered, or being happy. Sometimes it has a much greater affect depending on the person. Every person triggers their emotions with different things, and it's the same for both of the sexes. Most women would claim that men have an inability to display their emotions as well as women do.

"When it all piles up, I usually need to cry and get it all out," says Ezman, of Sherrill, N.Y. "I talk and then talk some more and then some more, and then once I've had a chance to talk through all the things that bottle up inside me during the day, I usually feel better. When women become emotionally upset they just want to slow down, and talk, with someone that will understand their problem. This is how a woman can exert her frustration because its how they function (Men). The Amygdale, a

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small part of the brain, plays the key role in how men and women feel and project their emotions. It triggers the release of certain hormones that cause the body to feel different ways. In women this part of the brain is far more active and efficient than in a man's brain causing women to recall emotional memories and feel much more strongly about some things than men would normally feel. (Stains) In complex vertebrates, including humans, the amygdalae perform primary roles in the formation and storage of memories associated with emotional events.(Amunts) The amygdale is responsible for containing memories from emotion. Men's emotions are there. A priori men have incredible amounts of emotion in them, but when men feel strong emotion they automatically want to act. This is part of the history of men, and when men are emotionally overwhelmed or have been upset by something they feel that need to act. Now, because men feel that they want to react to a feeling, and they know this action may be regrettably violent, they will try and hold it in and not show it. This behavior is usually understood by women as a man clamming up. This leads to women thinking men always have some problem with them or that they are angry about something, when all they are doing is holding in a potential explosion of emotional thoughts and words, and possibly violent actions. One of the most important reasons why men and women react differently to

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stress is hormones. (Why Men 1) When men and women are stressed hormones are what create the itching agony inside of you. It is released from the brain and flows through the bloodstream in a consistently similar amount in men and women. Scientists used to theorize that these hormones known as cortisol and epinephrine were exerted in larger amounts in women than they are in men, and Robert Sapolsky, PhD, professor of neurobiology at Stanford, believes that this was the reason so many strange theories about women being so much more emotional developed. When in reality these two hormones are released in the same amounts, and the way men are affected by stress is different due to the hormone that is released to counter-act the stress causing hormones. This hormone is known as oxytocin, it helps rid the body of epinephrine and cortisol but when it is released in men it is secreted in much smaller amounts then in women, causing men to have an extended and more powerful reaction to stressful situations. Men think in a completely different process than women. When men are working on the task they want to think about it being done, and when women see a task they will think on every level of it, and look at all of the steps to complete it. This is another functionality difference between men and women. This is caused by men's and women's minds to think in a complex, deep, way. Compared to women, men spend much more of their time ruminating over negative emotions, express emotions less, and

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are more prone to showing emotions based on anger, pride, and jealousy. In an article from Men's Health Jerry Kennard says: Most theorists agree that biological differences between men and women cannot explain differences in emotional expression. In terms of the supposed lack of emotion in men a more plausible explanation is the number and extent of social experiences men encounter from childhood that inhibit emotional expression. (Men & Emotional 1) When it is suggested by the majority of the population that men have a much more difficult time trying to express emotions it is ironically somewhat wrong. Men show all kinds of emotions that are usually negative for themselves and people around them. Women show emotion that consists of caring and saying what is on their mind. Men do not do this because men, from a very young age, have been excluded from very emotional conversations and arent supposed to verbally show their emotions. This mostly is due to someone judging them because it is unlike the rest of society to express emotions verbally, so for a man to come out and do so, it is very uncomfortable and makes them feel out of place. A psychologist named James Pennebaker demonstrated what using a diary and writing down his thoughts can do for a man. It shows that when a man can fully trust something or someone with his emotions it can help open up that

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part of the mind and make it easier for them to express their feelings, thoughts and ideas, about something much more openly, something most men cannot normally do comfortably. Women are natural born caretakers. They have a motherly instinct and have tendencies to care a lot more. This in turn makes them very emotional about most things. Women want to pour out their feelings to others and make sure people know about what is happening in their lives, which is also why gossip is so often associated with dramatic girls. Stereotypes based on emotion in men and women are usually along the lines of, women have more fear, happiness, and sadness that fluctuate throughout their lives. Men are mostly just associated with the emotions of anger and revenge. They are very gender specific and very rarely do they mesh with each other. There is some evidence to support the idea that men prefer a problem-focused, rather than emotion-focused approach to stressful situations they encounter. (Emotional) Men see everything a logical way; they naturally do not combine emotions with their work, or whatever they are doing. Another contributing factor to most men's lack of emotion being publicly displayed is the alpha male complex. Men promote this just by making fun of any other man that does something that isnt like how all real men act. They way real men act

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also indicate getting intoxicated, getting women, and getting in fights. There are all unhealthy habits that numerous men participate in. Guys find it cool to binge drink and this is harmful to the amygdale, it causes it to be less responsive. This is a major con because men already suffer from it being less responsive. This compels men to act in the same way as all other men. This gender role reflects a tough guy that doesn't want or need help with anything he does. This causes men to be very bullheaded and hard to deal with. In many cases women find this bullheadedness very unattractive. It is not very common to find a man that stays home and performs what we would call the duty of a woman. These gender roles are also stereotypical and should not be considered correct all of the time.

Men are naturally born showing less emotion than girls. They must because of the way their amygdale functions. There are always exceptions to every rule, but for the most part men follow the alpha male complex. The majority of males support and promote this, and it is enough to get the rest to follow. This makes the majority of the men in our society today fall into the category of not being able to display emotions well, if at all.

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Works Cited "Expressing Emotion Men, Men's Health & Emotional Expression, Males showing

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emotions." Men's Health - Health and Fitness Information for Men. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2011.

"Men, women and emotions or why he never tells you how hes feeling by Uncommon Knowledge." Self help, personal development, training from Uncommon Knowledge. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2011.

Stains, Laurence Roy, Posted Date: September 13, and 2006. "Men and Their Emotions | Men's Health." Men's Health Magazine : Men's Guide to Fitness, Health, Weight Loss, Nutrition, Sex, Style and Guy Wisdom. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2011.

"Understanding Men's Emotions | LIVESTRONG.COM." LIVESTRONG.COM - Lose Weight & Get Fit with Diet, Nutrition & Fitness Tools. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2011. "Emotional Expression." Emotional processing site. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Mar. 2011.

Amunts K, Kedo O, Kindler M, Pieperhoff P, Mohlberg H, Shah N, Habel U, Schneider F, Zilles K (2005). "Cytoarchitectonic mapping of the human amygdala, hippocampal region and entorhinal cortex: intersubject variability and probability maps". Anat

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Embryol (Berl) 210 (5-6): 34352.