MovieChat Forums > Please Like Me (2013) Discussion > Arnold's Comment on Crying

Arnold's Comment on Crying

posted 9 years ago by theluckyfrog
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In episode 3 of the third series, Arnold comments that boys cry as much as girls until they're about 10, but then they stop because society tells them it's not acceptable. This is kind of an interesting topic b/c right now society's all over the idea of men opening up emotionally and dropping the masculine pretense or whatever. But I don't think socialization is the only reason men cry less after they hit puberty age. Testosterone and tears create almost a negative feedback loop. Just ask any trans guy; they tend to agree they don't cry as much after they start hormone therapy as before. And seeing a woman (or anyone) cry has been demonstrated to lower men's blood testosterone levels. It's like a built-in anti-rape precaution, maybe.

Josh and Arnold are clearly not the most testosterone-y guys, so they'd probably have a different perspective on emotional expression than your average man. But I think there is a physiological component to average male and female behavior. Don't get me wrong; men and women behave differently across different societies and time periods, and there's a lot of variation between individuals of either sex. I just wonder how far society can push the concept that gender is entirely a construct before that proves to just not be quite true. Discuss?

[–] Northerner335 9 years ago

I think that, in general, we've gone too far in insisting that gender is entirely a construct. Yes, men and women are EQUAL but they are not THE SAME.

I love this show because it is "progressive" (whatever that means, exactly) without beating us over the head with it. I am very impressed when Josh (the real person) says in interviews that he is not the representative of all gay people; it is not a "team"; and him being gay isn't a favour that he's doing for other gay people! A very refreshing perspective. He is a gay guy who makes a t.v. show about a gay guy and the other people in that character's life. Period.

Anyway, back to the topic. I find that the show is usually quick at pointing out statements that are incorrect - like when Josh's Dad says that gay men have a 30x higher chance of getting HIV, or when he said that the zoo feeds roosters to the lions. Same thing, to an extent, when Patrick's date asked if it was true that the dogs at the airport are addicted to drugs. But in this case, they let Arnold's comment go by. Either it is true, or they thought it would be rude for a character to challenge him at that moment and/or it would ruin the scene.

This was also the second time in the episode that they mentioned men crying, the first being when Tom said that he'd start crying if he saw an adult male (Josh's Dad) crying.