system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why is rolling your eyes a universal sign of being annoyed?
gpt
It isn't a universal expression of annoyance, though. In fact only since the 1930s or 40s did it start to have that connotation in the U.S. Watch old movies, and you'll see it was an expression of wry amusement. (Look at even older movies and it was a "come hither" gesture!) It evolved from amusement to the dismissive "oh, brother" or "oh, please" around WWII. From dismissive to contemptuous was a short step. The meaning of the gesture is purely cultural.

There aren't many studies specifically on it, but eye-rolling is not an automatic gesture. It's consciously done.

Many cultures do use looking-away gestures to indicate dismissiveness or rejection. But not all involve the eye roll.

The homogenizing influence of mass media is starting to spread this one, though.