Originally Posted by Angela  I don't think so, not necessarily at least. A toddler hasn't had as much time to store up negative emotions as a grown man, so her "feeling bad" isn't all piled up with inappropriate or unwarranted emotion. Toddlers WANT to feel better because they're generally not as loaded down with limiting beliefs and old pain as a grown man is. Toddlers are like dogs in that way -- dogs don't usually lean into their pain -- they'll do their best to play and have fun even in the midst of awful sickness, again because they're not loaded down with ghostly old pain.
The same is true for women, of course, but one advantage women generally have is that we are encouraged to tap into external resources, like talking about our feelings with our friends, so that we can (again, generally) get the learnings and let go of the old negative emotions; whereas men, as cylon pointed out, are somewhat more likely to "suck it up" -- both illness and negative emotion. So when they get sick, it can feel more devastating to a man. Plus there's the whole "mom" thing, which doesn't have to be a "superwoman" thing, but moms will work through their pain because they are compelled to care for their children -- no time off for sickness. But men will tend to just go ahead and Be Sick -- they'll give themselves permission to just really go for it, stay in bed, allow themselves to be waited on (something many moms find a bit uncomfortable).
Of course I'm talking in broad generalizations, but it's a generalization I think many women here (moms especially) will recognize. I think it would be great if the habitual gender roles eased up and balanced a bit, and it looks to me like they are doing so, as more and more kids are being raised by conscious parents:
Men could be encouraged to express their negative emotions with friends, get the learnings, and let go of the no-longer-needed negative emotion, and thereby build more health and vitality into their bodies; and
Women could be encouraged to give themselves permission to just go ahead and Be Sick when they're sick -- rest, allow themselves to be taken care of, and forget about everybody else's wellbeing while they heal themselves. (and that includes going to bed when PMS feels debilitating, free from some clown's judgement that their pain is not "real" -- in the same way that men don't need women nagging them about "faking it" or "milking it" when they don't feel well.) |