Why do girls squeal

Anyone can participate in a group squeal. Squealing invites everyone present to join in raising the encounter to a new level of giddy camaraderie, the vocalized equivalent of buying a round of shots for everyone at the bar. She who initiates a squeal opens an invitation to high-pitched merriment.

Squeal qua Squeal. Just as smiling triggers a psycho-physical feedback loop that makes smilers feel happier, squealing enhances excitement.

Squealing is fun. Like a stadium crowd roaring at a game-winning touchdown, squealing enables the squealer to access communal joy — even when the squealer is alone. Not five minutes ago, I took a break from writing this article to browse Facebook.

Alone in my living room, I squealed. And it felt great. Already a subscriber? This is colloquially known as "squealing. Women again, not all and not only make the noise for different reasons and at different times.

But, what does the exclamation mean exactly? After interviewing several "squeal-prone" friends, The Cut's Maureen O'Connor organized squeals into five different categories. There is, for example, the "Squeal for the Sisterhood. Squeals, O'Connor points out, contain multitudes.

The ritual whereby young girls scream at male stars has been a part of youth culture since the middle of the 20th century. Psychologists say girls get together and scream at boys as an expression of their fears about reaching sexual maturity. They can't imagine feeling desire for anyone, least of all the kids at school, so they fixate on unreachable, unthreatening stars — usually clean-cut, pretty lads — and practise feeling lovelorn and rejected in a group therapy context instead.

It's sometimes just fun to listen to the echo of their loud voice. They also enjoy when adults can join in the fun and see who can sing loudest.

Shrieks are a swift attention grabber — people stop and look right away, which in some cases is what the child is looking for. While the high pitched squeals might be less than music to our ears, it's good to know at least our kids are having fun and enjoying life — unless the shrieks are coming from the aisle at the grocery store, in which case, you have my sympathies.

If that's the case, there might not be much you can do to prevent meltdowns.