Slog - Comments on On Crying http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying "Are gay men allowed to cry?" Eli Sanders asked me a month ago, and I promised to provide an answer within a month. That month has passed and this is the answer I have for him: no. Absolutely no. Why? Because--and women, though I don't speak for you (yet), please pay close attention--crying is base, low, and primitive (in the unloaded sense of that word), which is why babies do it all of the time. Now, what we need to do is make a clear distinction between two human states: one, emotional; two, feelings. Which is the higher state and... Copyright 2008 Tue, 17 Oct 2006 14:14:44 -0800 Thu, 19 Oct 2006 10:19:08 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by charles :(

]]> charles http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477437 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477437 Life Tue, 17 Oct 2006 14:34:08 -0800 Comment by Chris B "Feelings are developed over time, and, as the neurologist Antonio Damasio has pointed out, possible only in animals with the capacity to remember, to reflect on what is remembered, and to refine those rough memories into “precious memories,” as the great Sister Rosetta Tharpe once called them."

So the pity I feel for you and your view of the world is valid?

Good.

]]> Chris B http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477439 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477439 Life Tue, 17 Oct 2006 14:39:08 -0800 Comment by Nick What if one does not cry as a reflexive response to base emotion but rather as a consciously intitiated response to well cultivated feelings--let us say following a deep empathy toward an expression in a particular artistic work? In this way, can crying itself be artful?

]]> Nick http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477441 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477441 Life Tue, 17 Oct 2006 14:40:40 -0800 Comment by Fnarf What about during Chevy Silverado commercials, with John Cougar Mellencamp extolling the greatness of America? Can we cry then?

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477443 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477443 Life Tue, 17 Oct 2006 14:42:01 -0800 Comment by Fnarf I cry when I eat really, really good barbecue. Is that OK?

I never expected to see Sister Rosetta Tharpe's name on the slog, and if I had, it CERTAINLY wouldn't have been in THIS context.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477444 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477444 Life Tue, 17 Oct 2006 14:43:35 -0800 Comment by David Schmader I cry all the fucking time—99 percent of the time it's because of art, but sometimes it's because of onions.

]]> David Schmader http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477455 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477455 Life Tue, 17 Oct 2006 14:51:48 -0800 Comment by Polka Party Sorry, Charles, I don't get it. Are you saying it's never OK to cry or that it's OK to cry only when based on feelings? I routinely cry to the Largo of Shostakovich’s 5th.

]]> Polka Party http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477460 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477460 Life Tue, 17 Oct 2006 15:01:07 -0800 Comment by Geni You know, you're right - repression is a great thing. Look what it's done for generations before us.

]]> Geni http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477463 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477463 Life Tue, 17 Oct 2006 15:09:08 -0800 Comment by LikesBrains I never expected to see Daniel Damasio's name on the slog, and if I had, it CERTAINLY wouldn't have been in THIS context. Charles, please keep your philosobabble far far away from the realm of neuroscience, you can't handle that kind of heat.

]]> LikesBrains http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477471 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477471 Life Tue, 17 Oct 2006 15:25:42 -0800 Comment by keshmeshi Babies don't cry. They scream and wail. They usually scream and wail to let the world know that they're hungry, cold, or have just shit themselves.

]]> keshmeshi http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477482 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477482 Life Tue, 17 Oct 2006 15:35:04 -0800 Comment by BC Seriously, Chuck, did you expect the response this time to be any different from the last time you posted this drivel?

]]> BC http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477486 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477486 Life Tue, 17 Oct 2006 15:37:53 -0800 Comment by Kevin Erickson This is bullshit.

Crying is a natural mechanism for psychological release. Suppressing tears just makes someone a neurotic asshole.

]]> Kevin Erickson http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477488 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477488 Life Tue, 17 Oct 2006 15:40:45 -0800 Comment by Fnarf You say that like it's a bad thing.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477494 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477494 Life Tue, 17 Oct 2006 15:47:27 -0800 Comment by charles http://www.cryingwhileeating.com/

]]> charles http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477506 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477506 Life Tue, 17 Oct 2006 16:05:42 -0800 Comment by Page I didn't even cry when Foley's dick was in my ass -- and that was quite an emotional time.

I'm confused.

]]> Page http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477541 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477541 Life Tue, 17 Oct 2006 16:40:46 -0800 Comment by Dobbs Ironically, I cried a little near the end of Mudede's favorite novel, Lolita, though I was alone in my studio when I did so.

]]> Dobbs http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477547 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477547 Life Tue, 17 Oct 2006 16:47:37 -0800 Comment by Dr. Draw I cry from laughter most often. Charles, keep posting! The anthromorphization of Feelings and Emotions is ridiculous!

]]> Dr. Draw http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477551 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477551 Life Tue, 17 Oct 2006 16:58:44 -0800 Comment by Paulus Fucking is base, low, and primitive. You're probably against that too.

]]> Paulus http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477618 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477618 Life Tue, 17 Oct 2006 19:10:22 -0800 Comment by let's get some shoes Oh, Charles.

]]> let's get some shoes http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477685 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477685 Life Tue, 17 Oct 2006 22:17:22 -0800 Comment by Gloria "...in the same way playing with toys is abandoned..."

So I have to trash my collection of vibrators now that I'm all growed up?

]]> Gloria http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477744 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477744 Life Wed, 18 Oct 2006 04:55:36 -0800 Comment by Brian Why do we have to discuss all this again. People get pissed at you when you bring this subject up. You got blasted last time you posted your over intellectualized reasons why men should not cry.
Stop covering up your obvious embarrassment over something that the whole world does naturally.

]]> Brian http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477843 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477843 Life Wed, 18 Oct 2006 10:20:22 -0800 Comment by Thomas It's difficult for me to understand your position on this topic. It seems you are deliberately trying to push people's buttons for what is a natural, emotional response to certain stimuli that we, as humans, encounter in the world.

Perhaps if you had a better grasp of this concept (emotion), your recent film "Police Beat" would have been noted for more than its lush cinematography.

]]> Thomas http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477872 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477872 Life Wed, 18 Oct 2006 11:00:27 -0800 Comment by Repression is Good! Repression of feelings and emotions is GOOD! It makes more fundamentalist Republicans, and look what that's done for the world! Repression is a GREAT THING.

]]> Repression is Good! http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477946 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477946 Life Wed, 18 Oct 2006 12:04:57 -0800 Comment by BostonBear it's my party, dammit, and i'll cry if i want to!

]]> BostonBear http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477959 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c477959 Life Wed, 18 Oct 2006 12:16:26 -0800 Comment by opalescent arcs Charles, tell me you don't cry every time you look at your bank statements.

]]> opalescent arcs http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c478002 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c478002 Life Wed, 18 Oct 2006 13:20:56 -0800 Comment by Gomez I blame pussywhipping and emo music.

]]> Gomez http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c478042 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c478042 Life Wed, 18 Oct 2006 14:31:15 -0800 Comment by Brian Ahhh! I get it, no one reads your other posts so you have to resurrect this topic again.

]]> Brian http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c478329 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/on_crying#c478329 Life Thu, 19 Oct 2006 10:19:08 -0800