"You're too emotional"

A photo essay by Aya Baradie

(Pictured is Sukaina Jamil, 20, a third-year student at Ryerson University)

As women, we are encouraged to censor and dilute ourselves to avoid being labelled as overly attached and emotionally invested. We begin questioning the validity of what we feel, when we feel it and how we can express it. This three-part photo essay celebrates some of the many emotional phases that shape our experiences as women — to laugh uncontrollably, dwell in sadness and self-reflect in a moment of loneliness. While society’s task has always been to belittle women’s emotions, what we feel and how we express it will always play an integral role in our growing processes and defining what it means to be ourselves, and to be women.