When making the announcement on gun control measures last week, President Obama could not hide his emotions while talking about the Sandy Hook shooting in which 20 children and 6 staff members lost their lives.

When he recalled the violence that happened on the streets of Chicago, the President had tears streaming down his face.

Supporters of President Obama saw those tears as a genuine expression of his turmoil, but people on the other side of the issue immediately started tweeting about conspiracy theories claiming that the tears were faked and that the President was acting to gain sympathy for his executive order on gun control.

In the wake of the moment and the reaction, Newsworks Tonight’s, Shai Ben-Yaacov, was joined by the Professor of Communications at West Chester University, Maxine Gesualdi, to discuss the general effect of politicians crying in public.

In the audio interview, Ben-Yaacov and Gesualdi talk about the incident, what the perception is on a man crying in politics, how it affects women in politics, and whether the situation has truly changed in recent decades.  

“In our history, in our image of presidents and people who hold high political office, the expectation is that they are tough and part of that means that they are masculine,” says Gesualdi, continuing that “according to our culture being masculine means not showing emotions outwardly.”

This very issue might have been the reason Edmund Muskie lost his nomination in 1972, explains Ben-Yaacov, due to what was perceived as him crying during his campaign when the tide turned against him.

In more recent years, the perception has been gradually shifting thanks to former Speaker, John Boehner, who, according to Gesualdi, has been “redefining the norms of what it means to be a man and also hold high political office”.

However, the double standard remains, as Nancy Pelosi had to prove her toughness when asked about Boehner’s crying by stating that she never cries about politics.

While things have certainly changed, as crying is no longer a career-breaking issue as the latest incident with President Obama proves, there is still clearly a stigma surrounding the issue.  

“I think it’s still outside of the norm enough that we will still continue to see the focus on it,” concludes Gesualdi.