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January 25, 2015Psychology of Women Cultural Representation/ Girl CellThe Threat of the Girl Cell    The “girl cell” in its simplest form is the act of emotion. The girl cell is not a physical cell, but it is something that everyone has, man or woman. It is everything that society does not want one to feel or to be; a woman. When listening to Eve Ensler I realize how real the girl cell is and how much people are intimidated by it and hide it. The idea of showing emotion scares most because people want to become numb to things like vulnerability and compassion. I personally feel like there was a point in time where I did not want to show emotion because I felt vulnerable and used. Many girls and boys in my generation have completely lost their emotion or hide it very well to put on this facade of not caring about anything and showing no emotion towards people they love and care for.     This denial of emotion has created many stereotypes for young men and women in my generation. Boys are typically categorized as tough and heartless, while girls are categorized as over emotional and heavy hearted. These stereotypes have shifted as well. Girls are now not to be trusted, serve as toys, and the “good girls” are typically taken advantage of. Boys have created this stereotype due to their own heartbreak with someone who they had a lot of feelings for. After the heartbreak they build this perception of females as a whole and that is when they start the act of the “player” role. With girls heartbreak is dealt differently. Usually the girl will keep trying with the same boy who is constantly hurting her but in some cases she will hit her breaking point and begin to “do her”. These are examples of young men and women who are denying their girl cells. They believe that investing feelings in someone is ultimately a waste of time.  I think the stereotypes of today are not accurate but they do hold a lot of weight in today’s society, especially in my generation. It is expected for someone to be cheated on or be played. I feel that because of the suppression of our emotions we will never experience true love. Looking at my parents and my grandparents relationships it is clear that I have a very low chance of experiencing love like that. Not only in relationships are these emotions suppressed, also in friendships. Forgiveness is very much suppressed and in most cases when one has been crossed, forgiveness is out the picture. It has become about getting even with the person who somewhat betrayed the other. Instead of addressing the issue, dealing with it, and moving on, it has only resulted in the person doing something ten times worse just to get back at the other person. It is easy to say media, specifically music, influences this denial of the girl cell, as well as stereotypes. Male rappers are teaching boys to be heartless and to only worry about themselves, money, and sex. What is even more unfortunate about this is that they promote all of these things but go home everyday to their wife. Girls are taught to be promiscuous or to deal with the baggage that men come with more through TV shows more than music, although music plays a big part in this as well. The threat of the girl cell is so intimidating that people have grown to hate themselves for having it. They want no part of expressing how they feel and not worried about being hurt or judged. Who is to say you should not be sad over a bad break up or for a boy to cry during a sad chick flick. Upcoming generations will know nothing of the girl cell and it is all because of the fear of showing emotion and what comes with that.

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