Hysteria

According to Bordo in the Reproduction of Femininity, hysteria, anorexia and agoraphobia are merely extreme examples of normal feminine behavior. So a normal female has normal emotional outbursts, but hysteria is an emotional outburst that a male thinks is 'too much'. Just how do you arrive at too much? I laughed through most of the article because yesterday was a hysterical day (pun intended).
Yesterday, when I arrived home, my son was not in the house. His caretaker, a male, was playing video games and said my son was outside with his friends. I went outside and shouted to no avail so I walked to his friend's house and again, my son was not there. I returned home to shout at the male playing video games who had lost my son and shouted across the neighborhood some more. I completely gave in to hysteria when my son did not show up after 20 minutes of shouting--and I am loud! I even called 911 since I live in a low-income area and I was certain that The Worst had befallen my son.
Just before the police car pulled up, my son and several of his unparented friends strolled over, completely unaware that they were being looked for and unaware that they had done anything wrong. There are children in my neighborhood who roam freely, as young in some cases as 5 and 6, but I've never allowed my child to leave the confines of our yard except to specific destinations such as another house on our street, still within shouting and visual distance.
I wonder at the children who wander freely through the streets with no supervision, no one worrying when they don't come home after dark. And it was dark when I got home yesterday to find my son missing.
Was that hysteria or simply a mother's love? Where does one draw the line between hysterionics and an acceptible emotional outburst? The police officers were very kind, explained to my son what happens to children who are missing and how every moment counts. They told us that if he had not shown up when he did, there would have been a helicopter search within the half hour. Because of the cold weather he wouldn't last long on his own and that is the least uncomfortable option for a missing child. He's never gone off on his own before so I don't know what gave him the notion that he could follow the unparented children on their escapades this time; his best friend, the kid he spends the most time with and lives on our street, had gone home at dark as usual but the Wild Kids from the other side of the 'hood were still on the loose; I suppose it is tantalizing to see them live like Huckleberry Finn while he has to play Tom to my Aunt Polly. Well he's grounded now while I calm down about the averted tragedy. I've spoken to the parents of the Wild Kids but they don't seem to understand how to establish rules. Funny, because even those Wild Kids are polite and respectful in my presence. They know that I have rules and follow them when they visit but as soon as I'm not around, they revert to their natural instincts.
So the typically feminine trait would of course be concern whenever a child is missing, no matter how briefly. Women empathize with others in pain or loss. But to misplace one's own child, one's own flesh and blood, is terrifying and reduces the normal-functioning brain to hysterionics. Which, in retrospect, is not very helpful when crunch-time occurs. I shouted until I lost my voice before he showed up and by then I was crying on the porch, waiting for assistance.