Thanks, Hank. I may still be suppressing something related to my parents, but I do know one situation (now after answering Wikid) wherein tears were inhibited. We were pretty much indoctrinated in parochial school that tears accompany our sin; failing God, so to speak. The fundamental atmosphere I was in demanded perfection, or one wasn't "saved". We were taught God turned away from us when we "sin". I'm not a Biblical literalist, but in that school, where it was taken literally (except when it wasn't ), many things that weren't in there were "sin" (i.e. rock music, women wearing pants, men with long hair, etc.). So, if one was crying, one must be sinning, so the implied message was, "don't cry, be perfect."