My whole life I have been “too sensitive” and “too emotional.” I have been told this by many people close to me but also male family members. When my feelings would get hurt I’d hear from my father “stop being so sensitive” and “grow a thicker skin.” I know that I am sensitive but I also know a lot of people out there are just intimidated by their emotions so they make other people feel bad for being emotional. I also knew that I was being told this more than my brother was because I was a woman. Watching the new Marvel movie Captain Marvel, I felt a connection to Carol (who is Captain Marvel) as she was told by a male mentor of hers that she needed to “control her emotions” if she ever wanted to be good enough.
Because of the way society has been constructed it is stereotypical for a woman to be more emotional than a man. Although this might be true in some cases, to have this as the stereotype is inaccurate and will only cause harm to future generations who think they need to fit the gender stereotype. In my case and I’m sure many other women’s out there, men love to tell us that we are being too “emotional” and they say this in a way as if we should change that or that being emotional and actually having feelings is a bad thing. I’ve explained political views or other opinions on topics and been told that I feel the way I do because I am a woman which makes me more accustomed to being “sensitive” to others. Not only is this stereotypical and sexist but when did it become cool not to care? I missed that memo apparently. Oops.
What I loved so much about Captain Marvel and found so empowering as a woman about the film is that she had multiple men who told her she would never reach her full potential unless she learned how to contain her emotions and stop letting them get the best of her. Due to her surroundings, she believed what she was being told for the most part. At the end of the film, we see her come to the realization that maybe she shouldn’t be trusting the men and people who are telling her this false information. She finds the power within herself that was there all along, that people were just trying to stop her from attaining.
My very favorite part, which was not only funny but very inspiring, is when we see in a final battle with Jude Law’s character, the man who trained her and told her to contain her emotions, who tells her that she needs to prove her powers by restraining her emotions. Carol looks at him, basically says “f**k you,” and blasts him across the desert into a rock. I love this because I often feel this way and wish I had a fist of fire I could blast at these men when they tell me I need to work on being less emotional.
Being the sensitive woman can be tough especially in a patriarchal society that finds masculinity to be the source of strength and power. I wish to challenge society and people to be more emotional and dare I say it, sensitive! Captain Marvel refused to let these bum ass men tell her what to do and how to feel. Instead, she decided she was going to be who she is and feel what she is going to feel and embraced the hell out of that. She is the perfect example of embracing your emotions and not letting a man or society tell you how you need to control or abolish them. I think we could all learn a thing or two from her boldness.