We asked men to anonymously share the last time they cried, and why. Here's what they had to say.
1. At a wedding.
"Two weeks ago at my brother's wedding. I was best man. I cried when I saw my mom in her dress, and again when the couple had their 'first kiss.'"
2. Because of the music.
"I cry almost every day. Music (mostly great vocals) just turn my face into water works. It just happens to be that I work as a audio engineer and musician so it happens many times in a day. I don't fight it anymore. Just let it happen. Zero fucks."
3. From a dream.
"I cried last week after I woke up from a vivid dream where I was hanging out with my former partner. I miss them.
Before that I cried like an absolute baby at the picture of the Syrian migrant with his dead son on the beach. I am a dad and I can't handle thinking about something like that happening to me."
4. Because of my cat.
"September 9th, 2015, had to put my cat to sleep."
5.
6. While detoxing.
"I get misty eyed all the time. But real cryin' was probably 3 years ago detoxing from pills."
7. That damn internet.
"Yesterday at some dumb Internet video that's supposed to make you cry. Be it a dog happy to see its owner or Syrian refugees — they get me every time."
8. Over animal rescues.
"I probably cry a few times a day over animal rescue stuff."
9. From the guilt.
"The last time I cried was two years ago. I had been sexting some girls I'd met on the Internet, and I confessed to my girlfriend. She didn't cry but I did."
10. After an argument.
"About a month ago, during a mild anxiety attack triggered by an argument with my girlfriend that led me to wonder whether she was starting to fall out of love with me."
11. While remembering.
"I cried about a month ago thinking about my mom who passed in 2010."
12.
13. Watching The Civil War.
"I always tear up during the 'Sullivan Ballou Letter' part of the first episode of The Civil War — as I did last week when the remastered version came out on PBS. This is me. This is who I am."
14. YouTube induced crying.
"I cry regularly. Sometimes I make myself cry by watching sports videos on YouTube. For example that one where the dad helps his son across the finish line in the Olympics."
15. During an existential crisis.
"About a month ago at the feeling of being crushed in stress by the expectations of my job and wondering if I could handle them. It only made me realize how much I hate going to work in the morning and considering it was kind of a "dream job," it made me question whether I should be in this industry or not or if I had totally wasted my time."
16. Literally emo.
"Last Saturday afternoon listening to American Football — the band, not the sport."
17.
18. Over the distance.
"The last time I cried was in April. I was having a very real conversation with one of my best friends who recently moved from NYC to LA. I went to go visit her and was having a really shitty time because our relationship was unraveling (because of the distance). She started crying and which made me start crying because it felt like we couldn't repair what had happened."
19. The unavoidable tear-jerk commercial.
"Last week watching that Zillow commercial where the couple adopts a baby. Gets me every time."
20. While feeling nerdy.
"I cried at the end of Zankyou no Terror *pushes glasses up nose* when the EMP was detonated above Tokyo."
21. Watching Inside Out.
"I cried watching Pixar's Inside Out on the plane last week. The relationship between Joy and Sadness – Joy realising it's not healthy to refuse to be sad, and Sadness realising she's important and worthwhile, really hit me hard. It was a beautiful affirmation of what it means to be human.
The next day I saw the David Foster Wallace film The End of the Tour. I left the cinema in tears. Not because I'm a huge fan of Wallace's, but because he was a man struggling with his mental health, with his place in the world. Knowing the hope he had for himself and his future, and knowing that he didn't make it, really compounded the fact that the things I struggle with will never go away, no matter where I end up. I'll have to keep fighting. I didn't let myself cry for a long time, and last week I cried twice in two days. I feel like I'm making progress, at least."
22. At the Phish show.
"This summer during the second set of a Phish show in Philadelphia. I was overwhelmed with joy and happiness."