Here’s Why Teen Girls Scream and Sob at Concerts

Sobbing, crying, and screaming at concerts are things girls have done since Beatlemania and much earlier.  So, what’s up with that behavior?

Musicologist Nate Sloan says, “Intense emotional reactions can actually trigger the body’s fight or flight response, which could be part of the reason why fans cry seeing their idols in person.  Because that’s actually a nervous system flight response, and not triggered by fear, but just being in an intense emotional state.”

Sociologist Michelle Janning says there are various explanations, including that entering a concert space is “a kind of vacation from control,” which is especially needed by girls, she adds.

Plus, Janning explains, “There is still a lot at play at how we socialize children into gender roles, that make girls and women feel like they need to be small, to gatekeep themselves, that they can’t be loud.”

Another problem, she says, is that we’ve all been socialized to do things like scream loudly at concerts.  But these days, female fans don’t just scream for boy bands or artists, they also scream for Billie Eilish.

Teen psychologist Barbara Greenberg tells Yahoo Life that the screaming and crying could have to do with the feeling that a beloved artist is putting words to a fan’s private emotions, and “it’s really big to feel understood.”

Some other theories about people reacting emotionally, to artists on stage, regardless of their gender, include:  Sexual attraction, thinking the artist speaks for them and with them, a sense of frustration from being so close to their idol but yet so far away, and in some cases, just feeling like they relate so much to the artist and the message they’re expressing, that crying is a visceral response.

It’s important to note that guys scream and dance and tend to act more aggressively at concerts, as opposed to other times.

Learn more, here:  (Yahoo)

 

• Girls may be more likely to cry and scream at some concerts—but why?  Science says it could be a nervous system response due to intense emotional reaction.  But it also could be due to learned behavior (we all know how people usually act at concerts)
• It could also be due to feeling like the artist understands them and is “putting words to a fan’s private emotions,” or due to the frustration of feeling so close to a beloved artist but also still being so far away from them physically, or just a true emotional, visceral response