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As a society, we encourage girls and women to be emotionally accessible, and in touch with their feelings; we say that it’s an innately feminine trait. We say it, that is, until they have feelings that make us uncomfortable, at which point we recast them as melodramatic harpies, shrieking banshees, and basket cases. The stereotype, for instance, of the good, sweet girl who thinks that getting a boyfriend is the most important thing in life is located directly next door to the stereotype of the pathetic, tear-soaked whiner who can’t just get over her break-up already; what matters is how they feel about the boy. Unsurprisingly, the girl who feels better about him is less likely to be seen as inappropriate or overly emotional by the general public.