People seem to love to draw distinctions between social categories. Gender, race, age, class, sexual orientation, religion… you name it; difference is something that we all tend to be a bit obsessed with. But even when there is difference, there is overlap. Often, lots and lots of overlap.
Case in point, sent in by Christie W. and Jordan G.: reactions to the super scary bit at Nightmares Fear Factory in Niagara Falls. These photos suggest that no matter who you are, scary is scary! There are lots and they are just as awesome.
Lisa Wade, PhD is an Associate Professor at Tulane University. She is the author of American Hookup, a book about college sexual culture; a textbook about gender; and a forthcoming introductory text: Terrible Magnificent Sociology. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
Comments 19
nick — October 29, 2011
Anyone know what they're seeing?
ApprentiSociologue — October 29, 2011
This make me think about the last episode of The Big Bang Theory, where Sheldon tries to scare Raj with a snake. But as an indian Raj doesn't fear the snake.
[Sorry for my english,i'm french]
Eileen — October 29, 2011
I felt a little bad laughing at some of these, but it's hard not to sympathize.
It looks like the scariness breaks down a big touching taboo: the family groups, and the groups of women, and what look like heterosexual couples touch in fairly unsurprising ways, but the two photos of (high school aged?) young men touching are kind of surprising. (I'm guessing the group of three boys further down are brothers, given the age ranges). Men don't get portrayed as touching in advertising or media very often (especially not in the Victoria Secret/fairy lineup way from a few posts back) so the whole body fright-hug going on seems like it's overriding a lot of media conditioning.
Anonymous — October 29, 2011
I also like this guy using his girlfriend as a shield: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nightmaresfearfactory/6277621571/in/photostream
Cory Harris — October 29, 2011
This is a great post. Like noted, it shows such common humanity. I can't help but smile when I view the photos. And not in a "laughing at" kind of way, but because I know I've got something in common with everyone pictured.
Jessica Franken — October 30, 2011
Oh interesting - it looks like they deleted all the comments. I looked through tons of these a few weeks ago, and the comments were truly some of the most racist, sexist, hateful shit I've read.
Lila — October 30, 2011
When costumed people jump out and grab you in the dark (in other parts of the haunted house) that sounds like a recipe for disaster to me.
Legolewdite — October 30, 2011
I'm not sure that it's difference we're obsessed with nearly as much as inequality. "Justice" is just another way to describe the way people ought to get along with each other, and it seems a neccessary preoccupation among those live in a socially lopsided system which arbitrarily yet consistently favors one group over another.
I mean, it's not like we literally quibble over the distinction of "apples" and "oranges." We lump them both together as fruit and move on. Now the cultural mechanisms which make some fruits available and others unobtainable, well I think that's a pretty relevant difference to obsess over. And yeah, we do tend to.
Thanks for the Laugh — October 30, 2011
Oh My Goodness. I'm dying of laughter over here! I went to that haunted house with a few years ago and I could swear we were contorted into all those positions at one point or another going through. They really go above & beyond at that place!
I guess this kind of shared experience is equalizing because I could relate to the terror on each face which is why these pictures are all hysterically funny to me. I've been there :)
scared? « showwlinn — October 30, 2011
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Guest — November 16, 2011
These pictures make my life. I guess now I know where I'll be taking myself and my friends for Halloween next year.
Timothy Ray — February 10, 2013
Where can I get some of that neat wallpaper?
j — October 23, 2013
Proof that it's a natural human instinct to form a conga line when afraid.
Margee Kerr — October 24, 2013
I'm a sociologist who works with a haunted house and I've observed similar patterns, check out the write up here: http://nerdybutflirty.com/2013/10/22/margee-kerr-her-job-is-to-scare-the-sh-out-of-you/