by Trenna Sue Hiler

Created on: December 01, 2008

Yes, women cry. And women cry for many different reasons. In the beginning boys and girls cry about the same amount of times. At the age of 12 things begin to change. Studies say that by adulthood women cry as much as four times more often than men.

Basal tears
Basal tears are constantly forming in our eyes. They are used to keep our eyes lubricated. Every time we blink these tears are spread over our eyes for protection. These tears also have antibodies to protect against pathogenic microbes and enzymes. These tears are composed of a bit of mucus, salt, and water. Basal tears are created equally by men and women.

Irritant Tears
These tears have the same component as basal tears, but are formed differently. They are formed in a response to an irritant in the eye. They come in greater measure to cleanse the eye of the irritant. In general men cry about 2% more often than women with these kind of tears.

Emotional Tears
Emotional tears have a very different component that those of basal and irritant tears. Emotional tears have a very high amount of proteins, in particular, prolactin. Both men and women have this protein, but women have much more of it. It is a protein that is also produced from stress. Science says that prolactin plays a pivotal role in the formation of tears. Essentially women have more of the "stuff" to make tears including hormones, proteins, and stress.

Social Conditioning
Certainly this has to play a part in why women may cry more. Boys are taught to be rough, tough, powerful, and told that crying is a sign of weakness. They are told that "real men don't cry".

Tear Glands
The tear glands in women and men are anatomically different. When men cry their tears don't fall to their cheeks. Their glands are designed so they tend to get misty eyed. Women on the other hand effectively get rid of the waste.

Now we have a little more understanding about the science of crying, lets get down to the nuts and bolts. No use in hiding that I am a women and this article is written from my point of view, however skewed that might be.

1. Women cry because we know it's a healthy way to release waste from our bodies, similar to sweating and urinating.

2. Women cry because we are happy and it is a great thing to have tears of joy.

3. Women cry because sometimes men are just plain mean.

4. Women cry because it makes them feel better.

5. Women cry because nothing else seems to work.

6. Women cry because our hormones are out of control and so every little thing, turns into a giant major thing, and we have absolutely no control over it. We don't even know why we are crying so please don't ask us to stop. Providing a tissue would be a much better response.

Sources:

www.sacredheartspectrum.com

www.mayo clinic.com

www.seredip.brynawr.edu

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