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why do women scream when scared?

when some kind of commotion or anything dangerous seems to be going down it's inevitable to hear the women scream. check any footage from a bomb exploding or shots being fired in a crowded place. i also remember the first time i was on a plane it took a bit of a dive and i swear it sounded like every woman on the plane was trying to be mariah carey. if anything the screaming was a lot more awful than the dive itself.

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Short answer? Evolution ie: to scream is to signal your presence, that you're in some danger, so that if people are nearby, they can try and help you

Screaming helps when you're about to be eaten by a lion :biggrin:

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(edited 10 years ago)
Yeah I know, I don't know how anyone could have the energy to scream in those situations.
Reply 3
pussies that's why. :colone::colone:
(edited 10 years ago)
Original post by mimi112
when some kind of commotion or anything dangerous seems to be going down it's inevitable to hear the women scream. check any footage from a bomb exploding or shots being fired in a crowded place. i also remember the first time i was on a plane it took a bit of a dive and i swear it sounded like every woman on the plane was trying to be mariah carey. if anything the screaming was a lot more awful than the dive itself.


This made me laugh. :lol:

But yes, I think a lot of women wildly over exaggerate their screaming.
It's bloody annoying.
Reply 6
To get attention. That's all it is.
Men shout too, they just have deeper voices and so it's less of a shock. I worked at London Zoo over last summer, and learnt that if a dangerous animal was to escape, whilst getting tourists inside the best thing to do to one of the animals would be for all the keepers to make as much noise as they possibly could.

So it looks like a fairly viable defence mechanism even now, even though a bomb or something won't be intimidated people will still feel that they might protect themselves on a biological level even if culturally they know it's not going to work.
Eurgh. My sister's like this. She's a horrible driver so whenever she does something wrong she always gasps or screeches, same with when she's watching TV and something shocking happens or someone dies. It's soooo ****ing annoying! :rant: I'm the complete opposite. I either go completely silent during these moments or don't react at all -- my mind has no room for fear. :teeth:
Lol yeah that's women for you...they want to show their feminine side so they scream like :yikes:
Reply 10
Original post by Hal.E.Lujah
Men shout too, they just have deeper voices and so it's less of a shock.


when men do it , it will a short burst like a sign of surprise and it's not that loud almost every time. women scream louder and for longer, like they are trying to raise the horde.



i've also noticed reactions to danger differ a lot between the sexes. men react either by getting away or getting into a fight stand but women basically scream or freeze or kind of crawl into a fetal position waiting to be punished or something.
I scream to assert dominance.

Maybe that's why they do it too?
I assume it's some left-over base survival instinct to produce a startling loud noise to try and distract/stun something that might be posing the danger. More or less useless now, except in some cases of actually being attacked by another person. What I find more annoying is when women scream when they greet each other or when they get good news. Seriously, STFU.
Men scream too, but they tend to roar instead. I think it's just a gender mentality that's been drilled into us through popular culture. Men roar at things like lions, and women act like damsels in distress.
I'm actually trying to imagine a man screaming, but I can't think of what noise they'd make.
Reply 15
Original post by Viva Emptiness
I assume it's some left-over base survival instinct to produce a startling loud noise to try and distract/stun something that might be posing the danger. More or less useless now, except in some cases of actually being attacked by another person. What I find more annoying is when women scream when they greet each other or when they get good news. Seriously, STFU.


Unrelated: I've stared at your sig for the last 3 minutes and laugh each time the guy with the white tshirt does his "moves" love it :rofl: :colondollar:
It is to attract the men when they are in danger. Given our current way or life it is often a fairly vestigial mechanism which is simply irritating (indeed it is irritating for the same reason, likewise with a baby's cry). However it is still used from time to time.

I once saw a documentary where a teenage female chimpanzee was chased up a tree by one of the adult males (he wanted some of dat ass), she climbed up to the weaker branches that couldn't support his weight (because she was so light and dainty and he was so ripped). Then when she got there all she could do was scream and hope that help would come. And then the alpha male heard the screams and came running over and owned the rapist chimp.

Given that women would hang around the camp all day and look after the children/cook/clean etc, and the men would be far away hunting, the women more likely to survive were the ones who, when in danger, were able to attract the men of the camp faster. So as it has been said already, evolution is the reason for the high pitched scream when danger is around us. Back then danger would involve things that can be controlled, for example a bear coming into camp. This can be controlled by killing/chasing away the bear. Yet today we are subject to things such as plane crashes which are beyond the control of the passengers, but as it is still danger, women will still scream, even though nobody can save them.

People are talking about the male equivalent being the roar.

I don't think so. I've never heard a man 'roar' when in danger. I've only ever heard males do something like that when in pain. Generally when men find themselves in danger they tend to shout out of help by name if known, or if not then shouting 'help' will suffice.
(edited 10 years ago)
To scare away whatever might be attacking her, and to get the attention of anybody who might be able to help. Evolution.
Original post by lilac!!
Unrelated: I've stared at your sig for the last 3 minutes and laugh each time the guy with the white tshirt does his "moves" love it :rofl: :colondollar:


You're welcome :biggrin: Was it a high pitched screamy laugh? :tongue:
Reply 19
As bestofyou says it's so the men can hear so they can come and save them