Do you believe that crying is weak?

Apparently, Theodore Roosevelt was having a tiff with a political opponent when he was in the NY assembly, before he was president. Things were said, especially by Theodore, until his opponent gave a speech on the floor. Theodore realized that he had misjudged the man in question, and came down the isle to apologize with tears running down his face. I think that's in Edmund Morris' biography. (Of course he also decked a guy threatening him with a pistol in North Dakota, but that's different.)

I didnt say or imply they were connected. I just answered the question by asking my own questions.

Seeing as 70+% of people said it's not a weakness, is it wrong to think that it is. Like is there a solid answer or does it usually matter about someones personality and beliefs?

I don't seeing crying as either weak or strong. Anything that's judged in this way is reflective of the observer, not the thing itself. I cry a lot, always have, and was punished severely for it, but I could not stop then and I can't stop now. If someone wants to think I'm weak, that's their issue, really, because it's like blaming me for being tall. I did not ask to be this way. Weakness is when someone points out another's flaws to deflect from their own.

Is it wrong to think that green is an even integer? No. It just means two things that don't go together are put together.

I feel the same.

I'm inclined to think of it as a weakness for myself...even though I love the relief that comes with it.

I feel like crying is linked to weakness, in that I'm more likely to cry when I feel weak. But I don't think weakness is a bad thing. It's just part of the human experience! Sometimes we're weak, sometimes we're strong. Sometimes even if we're strong we get knocked for 6. For me, one of the cooler parts of therapy has been in learning to accept all of my experiences and be kinder to myself about the fact that I have as many flaws and sorrows as everyone else.

I have refrained from voting. This is because crying being a weakness is something I was raised to believe, but I am unsure how I feel about it myself (i you know what I mean).

For a guy it's the ultimate, inexcusable weakness.

Yeah, this. I do get weepy and sometimes a few sobs come out, but I just have never felt better after crying. Just icky.

But also, what's wrong with weakness? Is it so great to be strong all the time? Don't we get to be weak sometimes too?

It depends. I cry too much and it gives me constant headaches

I'm okay with crying as long as it is not in front of other people, including T. The only times I've ever broken down in front of someone (other than my parents) has been when I was drunk.

I think some people keep their emotions so tightly buttoned up crying is almost equivalent to a nervous breakdown of some sort. Either tears of joy or sorrow. They simply do not express their feelings with water coming out of their tear ducts.

I sort of agree . . . but in a qualified way . . .

Is it really weakness though? Or is it just being human? The connotation that weakness is some sort of flaw (a reason to beat ourselves up -- do we really need to do that to ourselves?) is the danger in calling it a weakness. The opposite is also true: Who died and said the strong don't cry?

I cried buckets for weeks when my sister died. Was that weakness? Personally, I don't think so. It was a natural and very human response to an intense loss for me.

I cry when I become overwhelmed by stress. Is that weakness? Personally, it is reaction to too much stress building up which releases like a pressure valve letting go in the form of crying. Still a pretty normal response to that kind of pressure and certainly preferable to not being able to release that pressure and completely exploding or imploding in some other, perhaps truly harmful way toward myself or others.

When I learned to accept my tears as normal and healthier than some alternatives for myself, I no longer put my crying (or other emotions for that matter) in the context of strong or weak or good or bad. That kind of acceptance has been calming, balancing, and freeing for me.

Neither. It is human, and I can't look at tears shed by other people in terms of strong or weak, those are not applicable labels, for me. I might try to do things to comfort or help the person who cries but that doesn't mean that the tears are a sign of weakness from my point of view.

I don't cry, because I am a disgusting freak. I don't understand how people do it.

I cry easily. I hate it. But I don't see many others doing it. I don't think less of them.

I find that tears just start to well up in my eyes when "X" emotion(s) become too much for words. I am essentially overwhelmed and the only way to express the feeling is with tears. I no more have control over the tears forming as I do the emotion(s) rising. If I can manage to control the emotion, then I manage to control the tears.
I don't know that having emotions, or not, can be considered weak or strong.
Vulnerable, perhaps, might be a better term. When I am crying I do feel quite vulnerable, and I do not like that feeling.

I don't see crying as weak when it is other people crying. But I do feel like I am weak when I cry. I want so badly to let myself cry in front of T, but I fear he will look at me like a sad, little girl. I don't want him to see me that way.

No , I don't believe it is weak to cry. My T told me some T's won't have a box of tissues near the client in case it makes the client feel they are EXPECTED to cry. I think crying probably releases pent up emotions and is healthy.

It does take a certain amount of strength and courage to expose yourself in a vulnerable way in front of another human being, therapist or not. If you're sad and you feel like crying, then why not? If it is a "one size fits all" solution then maybe that's another issue altogether.

Again loving these answers as im seeing different viewpoints. My T always tells me that there is a box of tissues there for a reason! I guess I've built such a strong belief that crying is weak (again only if I cry) that I dont even think ill be able to cry in front of my T. Sometimes though I want to just so my T can see that I am hurting but then when im on the verge of tears in the office I quickly try to tell myself im going to be strong and not show my sadness.

See I don;t get the "not crying in front of T" thing. I don't mean that statement to be rude but sometimes I cannot NOT cry. Usually as I said when tired, sometimes when angry or frustrated. The tears just show up and I have no way of turning them off. I wish I did

Reminds me of the scene from a movie, Dr. Strangelove, where the president says, "You can't fight in here; it's the war room!"