emotions

"Emo" means a whole lot of things in a whole lot of contexts. It's a musical genre. It's a style, with distinctive clothes and hair. It's a type of poetry, type of drawing, type of dance. There is even an emo cow.

While I'm as guilty as the next person for snarking on diagonal-cut bangs (how do you see??), I'm concerned that at the core of the "emo" label is a judgment of both the validity and the presentation of another person's strong emotional expression. These judgments echo some of the ways that people with mental illness, especially mood disorders such as depression or bipolar, find their emotions critiqued and dismissed by others. Also, because the vast majority of bands classified as "emo" are made up of males and have male vocalists, this is an especially easy way to police men's emotional expression. This is particularly problematic as men are already significantly less likely to seek assistance for mental health problems, so these ideas may encourage them to continue to suppress or conceal problematic emotions.

Stop the presses! Science has released a groundbreaking study! According to new research at the University of Michigan, bonding with friends makes women feel good.

Okay, so definitely not hot news, right? But what IS interesting is the way newspapers and websites reported on the study. The U of M researchers found that after emotional conversations, women release progestrone, a hormone that reduces stress.

But apparently mainstream press can only describe intense, personal conversation between women with one word: GOSSIP!

Check out the top ten most popular headlines via Google news about the study:
1. Women who gossip can live a happy and healthier life, study finds.
2. Gossiping is good for women's health
3. Gossip is good for women's health, scientists claim
4. Friendship is a mood uplift
5. Good health from a good gossip?
6. Gossiping Reduces Anxiety and Stress in Women - A Study
7. Gossipping can be healthy: Research
8. Now Women Have An Excuse
9. Idle chatter makes women healthier, happier.
10. A scientific take on female friendship.

Ouch, at 20 percent accuracy, 80 percent "Women are Gossiping Gossip Hounds" that's a failing score, headline writers.