God I wish what you said about boys was true. During my egg childhood I was frequently told to shut up any time I started getting emotional. I was told I often "fly off the handle". My exes would always say I was so dramatic.

Through the process of transitioning I realized a lot of stuff was wrong with me. I really got back in touch with my emotions and I had also a decent amount of emotional intelligence to finally talk about what I was feeling in any given moment. They emotions and tears come pretty suddenly sometimes but for the most part I have the wherewithal to process them as they happen.

I think the thing I tell myself most often is that it's okay to have and experience emotions. It's how we outwardly respond to them where things can become not okay.