Gendered Emotions: Between Social Control and Agency

Significant progress has been made worldwide toward de facto equality; however, substantive equality remains elusive. Structural inequalities continue to shape gender relations and limit the full exercise of rights. In this context, emotions are key dimensions for understanding both the reproduction of inequalities and the possibilities for resistance and social change.

Far from being purely individual experiences, emotions are social phenomena embedded in norms, expectations, and power relations. They play a central role in the construction and performance of gender identities: learning which emotions to express, suppress, or value contributes to social recognition as a woman, a man, or a person situated outside dominant gender binaries. This perspective can be enriched through an intersectional analysis that considers the interplay of gender, rights, and agency.

Emotions also function as mechanisms of social regulation. Shame, guilt, fear, and pride encourage conformity to gendered expectations and support the internalization of norms associated with femininity and masculinity. Those who challenge or transgress these norms may encounter emotional sanctions such as stigmatization, discrediting, guilt-tripping, or exclusion. These dynamics contribute to the persistence of gender inequalities and gender-based violence.

At the same time, emotions are not solely instruments of control. They can also become powerful resources for agency, resistance, and collective mobilization. Anger in response to injustice, indignation, solidarity, hope, and pride can motivate challenges to unequal power relations and support efforts toward social transformation. Through processes of collective action and mutual support, emotions can help individuals contest gender norms and advance more egalitarian social relations.