Look, I’ll be honest – I’ve cried at work before. At one of my old jobs I even had a particular cubicle in the ladies’ toilets where I’d go for a silent weep before re-emerging, head down, and slinking back to my desk.
Thankfully, the times I have bawled until my face was a red-streaked and swollen mess have not been caught on camera for the world to see (I am a particularly ugly and colourful crier). So I genuinely felt for Rachel Reeves, who today was spotted puffy-eyed with a single tear rolling down her cheek, while sat behind Prime Minister Keir Starmer during today’s Prime Minister’s Questions, the day after the controversial welfare system reforms vote.
Reeves, the country’s first female Chancellor, has recently been on the receiving end of criticism from colleagues, opposition parties and the public over a proposal to cut benefits and Personal Independence Payments (PIP) which help disabled people live a more independent life, as part of a much-needed benefits system overhaul. Elements of said plan is something the government has since been forced to u-turn on following backlash and the threat of a Labour rebellion.
Much furore has been made of Reeves’s clear upset when Starmer sidestepped a question about her future during PMQs – and it’s something the financial markets have apparently picked up on, too. At around midday (when PMQ’s are broadcast) the value of the pound declined sharply against the dollar (though whether that’s entirely down to Reeves’s tears, or more linked to the suggestion that unpopular tax rises or a new Chancellor with a whole new economical plan could be waiting in the wings, is unclear).
What is clear, however, is the whiff of misogyny accompanying a lot of the commentary about Reeves online right now. There’s a lot I find indefensible about this current Labour government – remember the halcyon days of last July when we actually thought change was afoot and things were going to get better? – but a politician showing emotion is not one.
It’s a tired and well-worn (not to mention chauvinistic) trope that women are often ‘too emotional’ in the workplace, and that showing any sign of upset is to be considered weak and feeble. It’s a reductive take – and we don’t know with certainty what has upset her (a spokesperson for the Chancellor said it was “a personal matter” and that Reeves will be “working out of Downing Street this afternoon”, implying she has not been ousted or used as a scapegoat). Frankly, a few tears are far less embarrassing than some of the frequent, angry outbursts we see from other politicians.
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Donald Trump, for instance, regularly takes to his own social media platform, Truth Social, to get involved in spats with whoever has irked him that day, using language akin to an angry eight-year-old who has been told he’s had enough screentime for the day, labelling former colleagues as ‘losers’ or any vaguely unflattering (and oftentimes honest) commentary about himself as ‘fake news’.
Or take his Vice President, JD Vance, and his petulant outburst against Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the White House earlier this year, during which he berated a man whose country is at war for his lack of wearing a suit. These are treated as popcorn-worthy entertainment, meme-ified and held up as the embodiment of ‘power’ and strongman politics – when really, it’s just a tantrum for all to see. Somehow, though, I reckon Reeves will be judged more harshly.
I’m not saying crying at work is necessarily a good thing – if you find yourself dissolving into tears frequently and publicly, maybe it’s time to accept that perhaps the job isn’t for you. But what I am saying is, sure, there’s plenty to attack Reeves over politically (seriously, those welfare reform plans and the threat to remove PIP payments were a mess) – but visibly showing emotion should not be one of them. If the markets are affected by a woman crying, then it’s the markets that need to get a grip, not Rachel Reeves.
Kimberley Bond is a Multiplatform Writer for Harper’s Bazaar, focusing on the arts, culture, careers and lifestyle. She previously worked as a Features Writer for Cosmopolitan UK, and has bylines at The Telegraph, The Independent and British Vogue among countless others.
