Does sex or gender have anything to do with fear?
Asked by
Trillian (
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June 2nd, 2010
I used to think that it was because I’m a girl that I would get so wound up at scary or suspenseful movies. I’m prone to physically jump or jerk, I’ll scream or yelp and sometimes I’ll shudder all over and flail my arms in reaction to a scary scene. I’d freak myself out playing Resident Evil and opening doors really had me freaked for a time.
I still love to be frightened and I’m addicted to scary movies. I love zombies, vampires, werewolves, government cover-up epidemics , alien takeovers….
I even enjoy being freaked out days later by shadows or noises and overcoming my fright.
But I think that I’m more rational than my ex SO. He would call me at work on the nights that I worked because he was afraid to be alone if he started thinking about the supernatural, and he could not watch any movies that had references to the paranormal. I didn’t dare let him see Mirrors.
I’d like to know how you react to or feel about “scary” topics in the movies or video games. If you get the “willies”, if you have to have a cooling off period, if it doesn’t bother you at all. Or maybe you act as if you’re not bothered in order to convince yourself. Which genres really scare you? And if you don’t mind telling me, if you’re male or female.
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7 Answers
In general, movies don’t scare me, especially not while watching them. When I’m alone in the dark later on and I begin thinking about some of the scarier parts of the movies, then I just want to pull the covers over my head and fall asleep fast. But while watching it, I don’t jump or scream or anything, unless something is startling. I have a fascination with the paranormal as well. My fascination is more that I’ll have to rethink my entire view of reality if I ever have a paranormal experience and that freaks me out a bit. To this day I have not had one, no matter how interested in the paranormal I am. I even write scary stories featuring the paranormal that scare me. :)
I have no idea if gender has anything to do with it. I think we assume girls like to go “eek!” and be dramatic about being scared, but I don’t know if that means they’re more afraid. I think there’s just, in a very general sense of course, a tendency for the different genders to react to fear differently.
Oh, and I’m a dude. ;)
I don’t really get scared by movies or even by walking home late at night (though maybe I should be more scared…).
I’d be shocked if gender didn’t play a part in fear. I’m really against this idea that gender doesn’t play a part in how we think. Its not the only factor for sure, but its silly to think it isn’t relevant.
I am male.
I don’t know if it’s gender oriented because I’m a man and I get scared. I want to say, IMO (of course), that fear is drawn up of our experiences, the lack of knowledge we have of things, and of course, psychology. <—that is the big one right there. I won’t go into details I cannot explain accordingly. Hope this gives you an idea though.
@Trillian I’m like you when it comes to be freaked out days later and overcoming that fear! I watch scary movies all the time and own ALL the Silent Hill games (except for ps3). I don’t get as freaked out as you do or your ex SO, but there have been mornings (early) that I get up for something and am affraid to leave my room! lol
I’m a (super) woman.
But I scare easily
The slasher blood and gore movies don’t and never have scared me but are a blast to watch. The dark mysterious horror movies though can make me jump and I love em because of that. But my favs are the Hitchcock and Hitchcock style movies that are what I enjoy the most as he was master at tweaking mans innate fears and adding layer upon layer of suspense that ultimately would have you near paralyzed in OMG nooooooo! Now how gender plays into this I am not sure but at the theaters I have to say girls seem to scream louder but guys jump higher in their seats! lol!
There are experiments to determine what makes men and women wake up at night when they are asleep.
On average (there are exceptions!) women wake up more quickly when a baby cries and might be in pain and men wake up more quickly when a twig on a tree breaks and a storm might be forming.
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