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  • ADMIT IT: the best part about crying isn’t the release, or the raw emotions -- it’s

  • how freakin sexy your face looks when youre all done tearing up.

  • Hey folks, welcome back to DNews, Laci Green here! It’s a phenomenon the internet has

  • so kindly coined asugly crying” - when youre SO upset that your face gets all

  • contorted and puffy and um….ugly looking. But you know what? I REFUSE TO CALL IT UGLY.

  • CRYING IS BEAUTIFUL…..ish. Okay fine it’s a little ugly.

  • Funny thing about crying is that there is a huge gender gap. Women are much more likely

  • to let themselves cry than men - clocking in an average of 47 cries per year, while

  • men only cry about 7 times per year. I actually feel kind of bad for dudes. CRYING FEELS GOOD.

  • WHY AREN’T BOYS CRYING MORE???? There are a lot of complicated reasons, but basically

  • it’s a difference psychologists have repeatedly linked to cultural norms. How youre allowed

  • to express your feelings differs based on your gender. For instance, as a culture we

  • find it more acceptable for men to deal with their angry emotions by getting into physical

  • fights.

  • While the gender divides in crying are better understood, WHY we cry and what exactly triggers

  • it varies from person to person and situation to situation. But the universal experience

  • ofugly cryingcan be traced back to simple anatomy. In order to produce tears,

  • the lacrimal glands in your eyes have to get to work. Tear fluid is produced with the help

  • of blood, which comes through thick and fast when the blood vessels in your eyes dilate.

  • Normally you can’t see those vessels...but when they widen up, you can tell theyre

  • there, alright/ All those tiny little vessels swelling up to produce your tears make your

  • eyes lookblood shot”.

  • But what about the puffy eyes? This happens because, if youve ever had the absolute

  • pleasure of tasting your own tears, youll notice that theyre really salty. The salt

  • causes water retention around your eyes, causing them to puff up. Salt isn’t the cause for

  • your ENTIRE FACE becoming a puffy, bloated mess however. The reason for that is actually

  • a bit more complicated - it comes down to your fight-or-flight system. This is the part

  • of your sympathetic nervous system that’s activated when your body is under stress.

  • When youre angry, when youre scared or threatened - your pupils dilate and the

  • adrenaline flows, causing your heart rate to increase. Crying is basically the same

  • - especially if youre holding your breath a bit and not breathing steadily, it causes

  • blood to pump into your face, straining your muscles, and making your face red and puffy.

  • Add a nice smattering of snot mixed with tears and drool and well….youre a masterpiece,

  • baby.

  • Thanks for joining me for DNews everyone, are you an ugly crier? Tell me about it down

  • below and well see you next time with more science updates!

ADMIT IT: the best part about crying isn’t the release, or the raw emotions -- it’s

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