Emotion

I've written many times that I'm sick of emotionless female characters, that I think that emotion is a good thing, and all that other stuff. However, I feel like I should write a post that focuses specifically on emotion.
People give emotion a bad reputation, and I totally understand why. I mean, I wouldn't have depression if emotion didn't exist. But I'm glad to have emotions because otherwise, I would be incapable of feeling love, empathy, or joy. I would not be passionate about important issues, either. Emotion is also one of the many things that make me unique.
Unfortunately, society sends the message that emotion is a bad thing. Even if they don't say it, they act like it. When people say "control your emotions," it seems like what they really means is "keep it to yourself." While emotions should not be the only thing that dictates one's actions, they should not be bottled up inside either. Neither of these are healthy.
Although this attitude that emotions are a sign of weakness seems to mostly affect men and boys, it also affects women and girls. There is a song by The Cure called "Boys Don't Cry" (which is one of my favorite songs ever, by the way) and there are two songs that I know of called "Big Girls Don't Cry." The Cure's "Boys Don't Cry" shows that this very attitude is false, and that boys do cry. "Big Girls Don't Cry" both show society's implications that crying is immature. In The Four Seasons' "Big Girls Don't Cry," the lyrics say "who said they don't cry?" and "Big girls do cry." In Fergie's "Big Girls Don't Cry," she uses similes that compare her feelings to immaturity (I'm gonna miss you like a child misses their blanket").
The attitude that boys aren't supposed to be emotional and sensitive is also sexist. It sends the message that emotion is a feminine quality, and that femininity equals weakness. But it seems like when gender equality progresses, women are also not only "equal" to men, but are held to the same unrealistic expectations as men, because "masculinity" is still viewed as a strength, whereas "femininity" is still viewed as a weakness. The genders will never be considered "equal" until society realizes two things: (1. people are individuals and should not feel forced to conform to any "gender roles" and (2. emotion is not a weakness.
Finally, I would like to analyze The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, a comic by Gerard Way, Shaun Simon, and Becky Cloonan. For background knowledge, the Killjoys are fighting against Better Living Industries, an evil corporation that "[strips] citizens of their individuality," which includes not allowing them to have emotions. As the comic progresses, we find out that (SPOILERS START HERE) Korse has started this corporation because his father told him to "grow up and be a man" after giving his father a drawing (which showed his mother, who was in heaven, implying that she had died). Korse has become a murderer and has started doing these horrible things, and when he starts to show emotion again, Better Living Industries tries to torture him, and he realizes that "there's nothing wrong with [him]; there's something wrong with [Better Living Industries]." (END OF SPOILERS)
Although I doubt that this will happen in the near future, society is more like Better Living Industries than we realize. Individuality is not valued as it should be, and emotion is viewed as a weakness.