

There are many examples of completely serious or plainly normal scenes in
anime where a girl is running but then, I have to burst out in laughter
because they are swinging their arms horizontally left and right.

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/dPUMw.gif)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/dPUMw.gif)

I swear, no one runs like this. I've been in Japan, as well as other Asian
countries, and I swear this is not some hidden cultural manifesto. The most
probable answer I can think of is that when women wear purses, one arm might
move like this to keep the purse strap secured but not both arms.

What is the origin of this and why is it such a phenomenon?


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2019-01-15T23:17:30.480
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2023-04-28T19:37:38.970
2023-04-28T19:37:38.970
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question
culture anime-history manga-history
Why do females always run like this?


Looking at a WARNING!
[TvTropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GirlyRun) WARNING! One
thing is clear, this kind of running is an exageration. So you will not
probably find examples in real world.

But what is it exageration of? That character is female and that she is a
ditz. In proper "girly run" arms are close to body and move in controlled way.
This (supposedly) allows control of bouncing breasts. I can clearly imagine
woman IRL running like that if she doesn't want to have a bra accident. Plenty
of women will tell you that breasts bouncing around is not comfortable.

But character that lacks motor control or physique might have problem with
this kind of running style. Which is why they attempt it, but fail and their
arms start flailing around. It might also be due to exhaustion, as fine motor
control becomes more difficult.

Another point that just came to me is that, in real life, you mostly see
people running who actually want to run. So they put effort into learning good
running style. And in case of females, invest in good sports bra.


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2019-01-16T07:55:45.403
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answer