Do real men have a protective instinct that kicks in when they see women they care about cry?

Question

MrOracle · Accepted Answer

Yes... assuming she's not one of the women who cry at everything, and that she's not a "manipulative crier." I think we all know someone who cries crocodile tears whenever they don't get their way or they want something.

But, yes, if a woman we love is crying about something, and there's something we can do to help - whether that's a hug or a talk or actually doing something to fix the problem, we usually will do so. We don't want to see our loved ones in pain.

Mehzmeh · Accepted Answer

Yup!!!

Sarahr123 · Answer

If it’s their daughter or a wife they actually love or their mother and sometimes also sisters (usually younger sisters) then yeah I guess they do feel protective. Some men do. It depends on the nature of the relationship. Not everyone has a good relationship with their family members.

As for seeing stranger women cry, they probably find them to be absurd and drama. Especially if they cry hysterically on the streets. When a person is genuinely crying and it’s just tears and you can literally feel their pain then anyone feels some sort of protective instinct regardless of the sex of the person. It’s like your heart breaks a little for them and maybe you also feel like crying with them.

Shizunk · Answer

This depends on context. Usually I will just be uncomfortable. A protective instinct may kick in if it's someone I care about and the reasons for crying are reasonable. There is a very real possibility that I may instinctively think "calm down, you are being pathetic."
And I had male friends cry and appreciate my empathy so it's not purely a white knight syndrome, part of it is just response to human emotions.
With all that out of the way, yes, a woman is going to get a stronger reaction from me and the impulse to hug her and destroy anyone who hurt her.
Those two last things will never happen if a man cries.

Finchie40 · Answer

Yes, i am very protective to a girl that makes me feel loved and valued to a certain extent , that stands by my side like I do to her , even if she is going off the deep end and saying some crazy shit to someone , I will let her go off verbally on them but the second it’s about to escalate into a physical fight I will intervene and protect her , My ex had no filter when it came to saying what she needed to say and if she was pissed off she would verbally attack , Even if I thought she was being out of line I had her back. By her knowing I was there for her got me some amazing sex lol shit I even knocked my oldest brother out for her when he got in her face

Ghostlock · Answer

We don't want to see anyone cry, man or woman. However, in my experience most women you can't help when they cry because most of the time the anguish they are feeling is something that they brought on themselves... most of the time. For an example, when I told my ex wife to go to rehab or our marriage was over... she acted like a tough guy and said F Rehab... so then I filed for the divorce and she cried. In her situation she expected me to just deal with whatever she felt like doing and I should never want to leave her over it. She was wrong.

Middle-aged_maniac · Answer

A little late to the party here, but I tend to do that with all women, not just ones I'm close to. I know that some women are manipulative and some are taking advantage of some guys just trying to be gentlemen, but my mother raised me to do it anyway. Protect a woman even if she's a miserable you-know-what.
You know, we hear a lot of talk about boys needing fathers, and I agree, but in the area of treating women, my Irish Catholic mother who's almost seventy taught me far more about it than my dad ever did.

Rob596 · Answer

At least I do. I do everything I can to comfort them. Even to my female friends. I hate seeing women cry. Like my female friend was crying a while ago because her grandma past away. At first, she didn’t want to tell me why she was sad, so I made her a letter to cheer her up. She said it made her day, and I gave her a hug. Sometimes, I don’t think about anything else till they’re better.

ReneD13 · Answer

I would say yes. I don't know if it's a protective instinct or that men tend to be fixers. They like to figure out whats wrong and solve the problem so that everything is fine. Sometimes this leads to problems because it's hard for men to understand that sometimes you can't just fix it, or that the women they care about don't want a fix they just want a shoulder to cry on.

worldscolide · Answer

Uh fuck yes. That and if my wife cries, she's either sad, over whelmed, or it's my fault. In all of those situations I do what I can to take care of her.

crazy8000 · Answer

A lot of people are pretty tired of crying female's since to many have used it to manipulate their way to something.
Because of that it rarely kicks in no matter how someone cares for someone.

If you are into blaming you can blame other female's for that and maybe yourself too.

humpbackjack · Answer

Of course hell it bothers me to see any woman cry but there can be a point where the crying gets old like if she keeps causing whatever she’s crying about and I’m not talking about domestic violence I’m talking about say she’s sick and keeps doing whatever is making here sick or a girlfriend that keeps cheating on her boyfriend but cries her eyes out when he catches her but for the most part I’d say our natural instinct is to want to fix it

AndrewMG · Answer

Oh I'm not good with tears regardless of gender lol... I think I'm a nice guy but I panic when someone cry's in front of me and just help out regardless. I've literally had a customer on the phone with me today who've I've arranged all sorts of stuff for as it stopped her crying. It's basically my Kryptonite lol

_piotr · Answer

No. The willingness to help can kick in regardless of gender. In fact, many women (especially young) are entitled manipulators that think they are superior beings. This does not does not encourage me to help them. But then, I am probably a 'fake man' according to WowGirl's contrived, made up standards.

MJtheCoach · Answer

Since feminist has made us feel like shit for having testicles. NO!

I was raised in Canada and after extremely amount of male bashing and me being humiliated and made fun of by women.

I don’t give a FK if I see those local Canadian bitches in trouble.

I’ll just walk away.

Jayplays900 · Answer

My reaction is more "Oh god, is everything okay?"

I sometimes freeze up as I don't want to make it worse, but I try my best to do something. Maybe just let them lay on me. But that doesn't make me a 'ReAl mAN', that just makes me a decent friend/partner.

SpiderManFan2002 · Answer

I’m not sure I’m not a dude, but I think it’s just the human thing to care about an upset person- especially if it’s someone you know, and even if it’s a stranger I wouldn’t want to just leave them there if they were alone- I’d feel so bad.

TallAnon · Answer

The phrase "real man" is a bit weird, in my opinion. But yes, that's the feeling I get.

ChiTown33 · Answer

I wouldn't call it instinct more of a learned response. Women teach their sons that. And inthe current climate it's best if guys just unlearn that response. Most women of today exploit that.

anon1903 · Answer

You ask the funniest questions. But yeah, as far as I have observed, a man is more likely to comfort you than a woman would if you were found crying. I guess they're just nicer that way. :)

xwmiku · Answer

If I see a woman cry and she is not already being attended to by friends, I will drop everything to go and comfort her or see if she needs assistance. Do with that what you will.

WhoRtheseGuys · Answer

Actually studies show that women’s tears turn men off. So I think it makes them want to get out of the situation quickly.

Do real men have a protective instinct that kicks in when they see women they care about cry?

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