How common is the "Men don't have emotions" rhetoric among women?

I am male, and growing up I heard this "Men don't have feelings" rhetoric persistently throughout my life. I don't know if other men have experienced the same but where I live I was quite literally hearing it from almost every women I knew. It honestly had a major effect on me and for a long I went through life assuming that almost all women genuinely thought that, and assumed they would not care about my emotions going into my interactions with them.

As an adult though I have seen this less, and have seen more instances of women seeming to care for, or at least acknowledge, men's feelings.

So now I'm genuinely so confused because I can't tell how common it is for women to genuinely think this. This is more a question for women/people who have female social circles: How common is it for women to think men don't have emotions? Would you say it's most women? Or only some, or a minority?

I don't mean to come across as insensitive when I ask this by the way. I feel like I've been left so confused by my upbringing and honestly do not know what to think.

Posted Mar 8, 2026, 8:09 PM UTC

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