For many centuries, there has been the philosophical debate that men are superior to women. Those that uphold this opinion argue that women are too ’emotionally weak’; that they let their emotions control the decisions they make in life. But I believe this isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Growing up, I was never given much opportunity to express my feelings and emotions. I was made to feel that by doing so, I was portraying yourself to be weak and vulnerable. But the more I was forced into suppression, the more I rejected this view. As young as I was, I knew that it was my right as my human being to look after my emotional health.

Being able to express your feelings and emotions, to me, is a strength rather than a weakness. It means that you have a high level of self-awareness. Being able to understand that you’re feeling ‘lonely’ or feeling ‘sad’, means you might be more likely to do something about it.

There are other advantages to expressing your feelings and emotions. One, being the ability to tell others how you feel about them. We all lead such busy lives, but sometimes we forget that life is short too. Just telling others how much you love them or how proud you are of their accomplishments, could bring a smile to their face. Sometimes people just need that reassurance.

Expressing the way that you feel could further strengthen your relationships with others. It could help to reduce or resolve conflict; being able to tell someone you’re upset and why, could be the determining factor in the resolution. By being more aware of yourself, you could be helping others as well.

I think the value of expressing feelings and emotions is often underestimated. Society spends too much time thinking “women cry too much” or “men get too angry”, to appreciate the fact that it’s good to be expressing these emotions at all. The focus should not be on whether expressing feelings and emotions is wrong, it should be on why a person is feeling the way that they are… and what can be done about it.

Thuy Le (formerly known as Thuy Yau) is a freelance writer and Youth Work graduate living in Perth, Australia. She loves to share her own personal experiences about overcoming adversity, as she believes that human beings are more capable than they realise. She writes to make a positive difference in the world and to inspire others to learn from themselves and their own experiences. Her writing has been discussed on radio, won writing contests, appeared on The Huffington Post UK and major Australian sites such as news.com.au, SMH, Kidspot and Essential Kids. She has just completed her first book – a memoir - and is on the search for a publisher.