Hillary Clinton has been loudly criticized for looking like a robot, acting emotionally distant and committing the terrible sin of "failing to smile."

While some of that criticism feels sexist, a new interview in Humans of New York crafts an explanation for this perceived behavior. In multiple stories published Wednesday, Clinton explains that she had to learn how to "control her emotions" in order to be successful as a woman in politics.

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"I had to learn as a young woman to control my emotions," Clinton said. "And that's a hard path to walk. Because you need to protect yourself, you need to keep steady, but at the same time you don't want to seem 'walled off."

Clinton said that if she does come across as removed, she takes responsibility, even though she thinks of herself as open.

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"I don't see myself as cold or unemotional," the post continues. "And neither do my friends. And neither does my family. But if that is sometimes the perception I create, then I can't blame people for criticizing that."

During Wednesday's Commander-in-Chief forum, Clinton was criticized by GOP Chairman Reince Priebus for appearing angry and defensive and failing to "smile" during the event.

@HillaryClinton was angry + defensive the entire time - no smile and uncomfortable - upset that she was caught wrongly sending our secrets.

— Reince Priebus (@Reince) September 8, 2016

Can a U.S. president really be effective without a special twinkle in the eye?

Here's the initial story below:

“I was taking a law school admissions test in a big classroom at Harvard. My friend and I were some of the only..." pic.twitter.com/SYAlpkVRDA

— Brandon Stanton (@humansofny) September 8, 2016

In a subsequent piece, Clinton explains that she knows she's not like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. If she were to shout or use her hands, some might criticize her for being "too emotional:"

"I've learned that I can't quite be so passionate in my presentation. I love to wave my arms, but apparently that's scary to people. And I can't yell too much. It comes across as 'too loud' or 'too shrill' or 'too this' or 'too that," Clinton told Humans of New York.

"I'm not Barack Obama. I'm not Bill Clinton. Both of them carry themselves with a naturalness that is very..." pic.twitter.com/dgRpFwAUzH

— Brandon Stanton (@humansofny) September 8, 2016

These may be some of her most personal moments this election cycle.

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TopicsElectionsHillary Clinton