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Being humble enough to accept when you’ve been wrong, and being curious enough to keep learning new things (even when your ego wants to get in the way) are two very good qualities to have as a human being.

It’s important to know the basics of life on Earth. Sadly, one area of knowledge that seems to be very much neglected is what some men know about women’s bodies and reproduction. In some cases, the misinformation they take as fact is simply staggering. You've been warned.

Sabrina Fonfeder, a development executive, noted that men should not make any decisions about women’s bodies, and gave an example of how little about biology some men know. One of her exes, for example, thought that all women got their period on the 15th of the month. The tweet quickly went viral and other women pitched in with similar horror stories.

Sabrina, who created the viral thread, was kind enough to answer Bored Panda's questions. She believes that men having major misconceptions about women is a problem with education.

"We're not taught anything about women because we're supposed to be these beautiful specimens. Get rid of your body hair, periods are gross, and don't get me started on pregnancy and labor and all the things women aren't taught their own bodies until they've given birth," she told Bored Panda. "There is so much shame about just existing as a woman that we don't ever talk about anything that makes us look like less than a supermodel."

Image credits: Sabrinafon

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viviane_katz avatar
-
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Horrible man - and some government reps agreed with him. Basically, the bill defined a fertilized egg as an “unborn child” - so a blastocyst has more rights than the woman carrying it. The bill also included life imprisonment and the death penalty for abortions.

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In Sabrina's opinion, changing the education system in a meaningful way can definitely be done. "More women in charge would be a good start. But also it's not that hard to look at what other countries do and just do that. We don't need to reinvent the wheel here," she said that there are already great examples out there. All it takes is the courage to follow in their footsteps.

Bored Panda also wanted to get Sabrina's opinion on what grown men can do to educate themselves about basic biology. In her opinion, there's no excuse for ignorance, considering the wealth of information at everyone's fingertips.

"Men can simply... read? There has never been more access to information on any topic, so I'd tell any man to do some googling and they'll get what they're looking for. Otherwise, ask a woman in your life questions and come from a place of humility," she said.

"If you scroll through the replies of my Tweet, many women talk about their male partners being adamant even when they are wrong about basic biology, and then yelling when they're told they're wrong. That's extremely annoying. I don't think they'll face any sort of shame if they ask questions from a place of genuine curiosity and a willingness to learn."

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The situation when it comes to knowledge about reproduction is pretty sad in some parts of the United States. According to SIECUS, only 29 states and the District of Columbia actually mandate sex education. Meanwhile, 35 states require schools to focus on abstinence when talking about sex ed.

Shockingly, a whopping 15 states “do not require sex education or HIV/STI instruction to be any of the following: age-appropriate, medically accurate, culturally responsive, or evidence-based/evidence-informed.” What this means is that in some areas of the country, students might be misinformed at the school level.

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NsG
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ooh, so this is the corresponding argument that a C-section means you aren't a real mum. So C-sections result in entirely fictional people! I'm sitting on my hands reading these so I don't facepalm myself into a coma.

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Nathaniel
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Look at all us men queuing up for prostate exams, because of course it is so pleasurable.

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This isn’t the first time that Bored Panda has written about the misconceptions that men have about women. Earlier, 21-year-old Cataleya Jackson went viral after tackling the topic. She gave us an in-depth look at the reasons behind all the wrong info, cultural stigmas, and sex ed.

"One of my friends had a hilarious misconception about periods and my friends and I had laughed about it. They thought that periods just never end, that we'd be 99 on our death beds and still bleeding out,” she told Bored Panda about the extent to which some people are misinformed.

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Trillian
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1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

D***s are related to pregnancy too so no alcohol for you guys

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"In my country, we do have sex education at ages 13, 15 and again at 17 (if they've opted to study biology in 11th and 12th grade otherwise it's just at the former 2 ages). It's very scientific and doesn't leave space for questions about things that actually matter, things that happen in real-life,” she said that the education part is pretty sterile and removed from reality.

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Lovencaress
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My ex boyfriend asked did I need winter or summer pads because it was in the spring time he thought bigger pads were for winter and smaller size for summer like the bigger they we're they kept you warm

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“Most people don't even learn, they just memorize it to be able to reproduce it during the exams, and then they forget all of it. We need better education, and it has to be more informative and relatable than scientific," Cataleya said.

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Daniel Yamada
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

To be fair about this, it is common to accidentally go in the wrong opening when placing a urinary catheter. Even nurses who have placed hundreds of catheters still do this sometimes.

marysheplor1 avatar
Mary Jeffries
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I second this. Based on the woman’s age, birth history and if she has gone through menopause, the urethra can be in different locations. I’ve seen hundreds and sometimes it’s like finding a needle in a haystack.

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Jennifer Norton
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

All you need to pass med school is a c average. Not all doctors pass with A's!!!! Just remember that

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Michelle Reynolds
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Putting a Foley catheter in older, heavier women IS a challenge tho. Knowing the right place and FINDING the right place can be very different!

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Whodathunkit
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Nurse here. This is a common problem. Even I- a woman- have accidentally placed a urinary catheter into a woman's vagina. It's a difficult task at times. If you miss the urethra- which is often hidden by the labia- the catheter slips right in to the vagina. It's a tough skill to master. The doc was probably a resident with little experience. On a related note, it can be difficult to pass a catheter through a man's urethra when they have an enlarged prostate.

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Susan Peterson
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

As a nurse who has inserted quite a few catheters, I will say that the right spot can be difficult to find. Women are not all built exactly the same. With some it is very obvious; with others it is hidden a bit up inside. A common tip for nurses learning how to do it is, "If your first try winds up in the vagina, leave it there while you try again so you will know where not to go. So the doctor might just have been struggling to find the urinary meatus. If he did not know the urinary tract has a separate opening, though, that is pretty bad. I am embarrassed to say that when I got my period at 13 and my mother was showing me how to insert a tampon, I asked her ,"But doesn't it get in the way of peeing?" She had to explain to me that there are two separate places.

atlmainiac avatar
Martha Higgins
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Excellent question for the medical school that thought he was a candidate for his M.D. or D.O. degree.

ldyshkspr68 avatar
Tracy Jones
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

reminds me of a quote i heard once--what do you call a person who graduated last in their med school? doctor...

ddw2945 avatar
Curry on...
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well Ann Landers did write once that we must remember that 50% of the doctors were in the bottom half of their class.

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LW
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I was orienting a new male nurse and an elderly female patient required the insertion of a urinary catheter. Unfortunately, he kept trying to stick it in the wrong hole. More embarrassingly for him, it was the patient that let him know before I even got a chance to say anything. Took him 3 attempts and detailed instruction to finally get it right. It was pretty funny and I never let him forget it.

joicain_1 avatar
Joi Cain
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oooo I've seen that movie, it's called Catch Me If You Can!

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Wayne Gossman
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Doctor here. Actually, anatomy is learned from books and dead bodies, very little time would be focused on the urethra, and a good chance your cadaver is male anyway. This is about learning basic physical exam. Have you considered how medical students learn to do a gynecological exam? I do not think most medical schools have (historically, perhaps it has improved since 1984) a good system.

sarazzheng avatar
SZ
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

He needs to get his medical license revoked - like seriously, did he cheat his way through anatomy or what

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Keley Babs
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No , this is actually very common. Happens to women placing Foley catheters too

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Nathan Pogorzala
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is the result of men who feel emasculated by going down on their partners.

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According to the woman, there’s a lot of stigma surrounding sex ed. And it needs to be erased. She shared an example of what happened when she was in the 6th grade.

"They called away all the girls from classes, brought us to an auditorium to discuss periods and what they are, why they happen, what we should do, etc. They gave us packets of pads and told us to keep them in our lockers for emergencies. Their heart was in the right place, but by only asking the girls to attend this, they ensured that periods became some sort of mythical and curious event in the minds of all the boys," she said.

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adiiantryx
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

periods came before calendars would be a small hint to some on this list

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"[The boys] were not educated, they remained ignorant to what should be essential information to them. And of course, we all scrambled to hide our pads because we all thought we would rather be caught dead than holding a packet of them. They teased us about it and we, being only 11, had nothing to say to defend ourselves because the stigma around periods is very strong in my country."

In some cases, the stigma is so deeply-entrenched, that it would take more than a bit of education to change things. "I have friends whose own parents make them sit on mats on the floor when they are on their periods because they are considered impure and should not touch anything in the house," Cataleya told us.

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GFSTaylor
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I was aged about 13 or 14 when our general science teacher (not one of the biology teachers) told the mixed class that the pill was something that needed to be taken every day. "If a boy offers you a single pill and tells you that's all you need to be safe, then he's lying." I can't remember how the topic came up (this was back in the early 80's), but it was sound advice.

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Poultry Geist
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We like to drag it out so we can be a bit€h longer ! I use to push it all out at once but not anymore sometimes I make it last up to 10 day just so I can be mean for a 3rd of the month ! Good times

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"Some women aren't allowed to enter the kitchen or the prayer room, they're not allowed to leave the house. A majority of women in my country have no access to pads or tampons and use cloth which causes infection and prevents them from being able to earn a living. I could go on and on about how bad it is here for a lot of women," she said.

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Nathaniel
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Marjorie, you can have a break from the housework between 2pm and 3pm, if you could just schedule to have your period then please.

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Eva
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Whenever I see a sex scene in a movie I think of the misinformation men get. I mean, 2 minutes of kissing und then the actual sex, and another two minutes later the woman has the loudest orgasm. No hands were anywhere near the clit. That may work for 1% of all women, I don't know but for most women it doesn't. Stop with the unrealistic sex scenes and stop fakeing orgasms, lol!

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Even though most people hate feeling embarrassed, there’s no shame in admitting that you were wrong about something. "There's no shame in it if you're 30 and have misconceptions about periods. It is sad that you may not have educated yourself about it, but there's absolutely no shame in asking women to educate them or to start reading online themselves. Sex Ed is so important," Cataleya told us.

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NsG
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've known women who also make that mistake regarding pad placement (so the husband wouldn't exactly be wrong!). Sex education is lacking for *both* sexes in some places.

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Anna
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"I didn't know you needed it. I just thought you like to store useless stuff in your vagina for no reason."

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