Recent data reveals an alarming education gap that continues to fuel period stigma and misinformation, as nearly one in 10 men (8%) believe menstruation attracts sharks in the sea. With half the population experiencing a period every month, it’s hard to wrap your head around what a lack of knowledge men have about women’s bodies.
And it doesn’t end with periods. The common image of women perpetuated by our society is that they are glitter-farting, strawberry-scented, soft and smooth creatures of hairless wonder. Just typing that feels disturbing, but sadly too many people hear that kind of nonsense told to them every single day.
“What's your ‘That's not how women work’ moment?” redditor u/Gamestar02 asked women on Ask Reddit, and the sigh-inducing responses started rolling in. And you wonder, how did we get to the point where this is acceptable?
This post may include affiliate links.
I was on my period and I had horrible cramps. One of my guy friends came over to keep me company but he wasn't really prepared for how much pain I was in. I was crying bc it hurt so bad and the poor guy really wanted to help but didn't know what to do so he just suggested that I ' push out all the blood at once bc that usually helped him when trying to stop a nosebleed '. After he said that I looked at him like 'wtf' and he said ' what? Doesn't it stop hurting once all the blood is out?' I explained to him what happens to a female body when we get our period and he was just shocked, it kinda cheered me up tho bc I thought it was hilarious.
Still better than many men... Yk , Those Kind of men who get disgusted and make illogical comments on woman body even tho they know nothing about them
Made me think of the movie "No Strings Attached" with Natalie Portland and Ashton Kutcher, *I know, it happened in Hollywood* Portland and Kutcher are having a NSA relationship and she has her period and they can't get together. Her and her other two roommates have all synced cycles, and are all miserable. Kutcher brings over a care package of food and items he thinks are period related *he does well* makes her a mix cd of blood/red related songs, and sweets, and tries to pamper her. It's actually the most relatable thing I've seen that would be sweet,useful, and funny to receive.
Load More Replies...
It's always a joy when a dude tries to 'splain periods and period pain. My brother was one of these, and for years, claimed that I was just faking it when I was in bed for two or three days with gruelling cramps. I finally told him, "Here, let me show you why my uterus is currently doing," and I took his hand and started squeezing. "Okay, fine, I get-" "Oh, no, I'm not done yet," I said, using both of my hands to squeeze his hand harder. "FINE, I-" "Oh, no, not yet," I said again, and then used both of my hands to twist his in opposite directions. He never minimized my pain again, and I finally got an OB/GYN who listened to me, followed up with real examinations, and eventually removed a massive polyp from my uterus that was causing so much agony for decades.
I explain it like an on-going "charlie horse" since most men understand that over contracted muscle and it's kinda a similar thing.
Load More Replies...
Honestly, I think it's really awesome that he accepted he was wrong and learned about what really happens. He was trying to be helpful and wasn't disgusted by it. This is probably gonna be the most wholesome one on here....
Exactly. I thought it was cute. With the amount of women that don't even know their own bodies I don't expect guys to know exactly what's going on inside mine. He was trying to help the best he knew how.
Load More Replies...
At this moment, my best friend's 12 year old granddaughter is in the hospital receiving her 3rd pint of blood from a bad period. Yes, they have brought in a GYN., but here is the really disgusting part. the school called her mother asking why she wasn't in school. They were told that she had been rushed to the ER and had been admitted on Sunday. The school officer said they were going to call the police since she had missed so many days. And this idiot said that being in the hospital was no excuse. She once again said she was calling the police. Mom said, do what you want to do, a*****e. I haven't heard back yet what happened.
That's absolutely incredible, the brainless pod people we have working in positions that can influence the overseers of children, they're loathsome and vile. They never have to be so cruel, hardened, and malicious. I realize that there are people who take advantage of the system to the extreme, but when there's a valid illness involved, it's just insane.
Load More Replies...
It’s sweet that you didn’t rip his heart out and feed it to him through his rear end 😂 not that I think that what I would have done but you never know !
If your period often hurts so much it could be an endometriosis.
This is not the first time I've heard of a man saying this . Lol , geez don't they teach them that during the sex Ed class from elementary and middle school ?
But at least the guy friend tried to help instead of acting all disgusted...
Though he was trying to help, as others have said, he apparently thought there was an easy solution like "push all the blood out at once" and over hundreds of thousands of years women had had never thought of that. Nor had medical science. It's like Trump and his "maybe there's some way to disinfect our blood" comment. It's so amazingly facile, and yet he assumes he's come up with some great new idea no one's ever thought of. They have. They also have enough knowledge of human physiology to understand the problems there.
My bf....bless his heart asked me if he could draw me a bath when I had really bad cramps. I thought it was really sweet of him and b he then said something along the lines of.... at least it will stop. Confused I asked him to elaborate and, basically he was under the impression that whenever a woman got in water like a bath or a pool, or the ocean,etc. that we just stopped bleeding. He said he wanted me to feel better and what better way than to just stop it. I explained that wasn't how it worked but I honestly think guys try so hard sometimes to understand and help their women but they are just misinformed.
“I read somewhere that their periods attract bears. The bears can smell the menstruation.” “Well that’s just great. You hear that Ed? Bears. Now you’re putting the whole station in jeopardy.”
My cramps vary every month. One month I could have really bad cramps and the next I could have barely any at all. Or one month I could have awful cramps one day and the next they wouldn’t even happen. It’s f*****g weird.
wow, you poor men... it's almost like no other gender has ever had to deal with generalization and bias from other genders..............................................wait-
Load More Replies... 
The best situation I can think of was something a friend of mine said once. His sister was breastfeeding and said something like „I don’t know if I have enough left“ to her baby. So my friend kindly suggested that someone else can volunteer and asked me. I said well I’m not lactating, since I don’t have a baby and he was honestly shocked to learn that only women who actually gave birth are able to breastfeed. He was convinced every woman just casually has boobs full of breastmilk at all times. He was 25 at that time. I will never forget this.
Really wondering on which planet some ppl live, if all these posts are true... oooff.
Person on TV gives birth. 5 minutes later, belly is flat and back to normal.
THATS NOT HOW THAT WORKS.
Among many myths and misconceptions embedded in the mainstream consciousness, some of the most underlying ones are men’s knowledge about menstruation and women’s health aspects that come with it.
According to a recent survey INTIMINA has conducted in the US, men are in general not educated enough when it comes to menstrual cycles. We spoke with Danela Zagar, INTIMINA Global Brand Manager, to find out more about this gaping hole and what can be done about it. Zagar told us that according to the survey data, men not only don't understand what women feel like when menstruating but they don't even feel comfortable talking about it.
Asked my boyfriend to buy me some tampons since he was going to the store, he sends me a picture of a box showing sizes (R for regular and L for large). He asked if I needed left or right ones.
Tampons are NOT pleasurable and are not the same as dildos.
Can't believe people still think that. But I think it has a lot to to with people thinking that the vagina alone brings a lot more pleasure than it actually does for most women. And is a way to glorify the effect of a penis alone during piv sex. If you think like that I could maybe understand how you would think it's somehow pleasurable to insert a tampon. (Obviously it isn't)
Had a very amusing convo with a gentleman once. Dude was confused why we would need pads. He asked why we didn't just go to the toilet more often on our periods. He thought that we were able to hold our period in line you do with pee and pads are only if accidents happen. So his reasoning is that if women would be more careful we wouldn't need menstrual products.
Props to him, he was apologetic after I explained it to him and overall respectful.
Zagar shared the shocking findings of Intimina's survey, which is that 41% of men could correctly identify what exactly menstruation is. Moreover, when respondents were asked to describe what having a period would feel like, a leading 40% said they would feel physical pain, closely followed by 36% revealing that a period would have no effect on them at all.
When it came to sexual habits during menstruation, 40% of heterosexual males felt it was not appealing to them or their partner to have sex while the woman was on her period, despite the cultural movement to diminish the stigma associated with period sex in recent years.
Additionally, while unlikely, it is possible for a woman to get pregnant while on her period. However, 42% of respondents believe it is not possible for a woman to become pregnant while menstruating.
And at the opposite end of that spectrum of male ignorance you have NASA scientists who packed a few hundred tampons when Sally Ride was going up for a few weeks and checked with her to make sure they had enough
The first guy I dated wanted to go swimming, but I told him no because I started my period and felt sore and crampy. He asked me if I could finish it before the end of the day so we could go swimming the next day…bruh, I wish it was that easy!
A guy once told me he know I was a virgin because my boobs were small. That boobs grow every time a woman has sex.
Tell that to middle school girls who grow faster and bigger than others
Zagar also said that when respondents were asked if they would feel comfortable discussing the menstrual cycle with their teenage daughter if they had one, 11% said they would not feel comfortable having that conversation, and 33% shared they would prefer to have a woman do it.
But there are good signs that came out of the survey too. While male knowledge of menstruation is minimal, a net 78% of respondents felt it was important to educate boys about periods and the menstrual cycle.
I'm at the store with my friend stocking up on pads, tampons, etc. As I'm putting boxes in the cart, my friend starts generally complaining about the prices. Understandable, so I agree. We finish up in the aisle and as we're walking away, a full grown 30-something looking man mumbles, "just hold your pee like everyone else." We were so taken back that we didn't even say anything. I never realized before this moment how utterly dense some people can be.
I was in a check out once and got a load of pads. The ones I liked were doing a 3 for the price of 2 special offer so I decided to stock up. I got quite a lot as I need to wear them all the time as I have the bladder of a 90 year old. When I got to the checkout a man in the next queue said " Geeze, how many do you need Just hold it in why don't you? " To which I replied, Wow, to be that dense, You really mst need to be a man, eh?" His wife beside him just burst out laughing.
My (x) husband asked me why I hadn't had my period in awhile...... I was eight months pregnant.
Wow. Someone wasn't paying attention when the "facts of life" was being explained to him.
My (female) bff (male) was my date to the prom. Because of my awful luck, I happened to be on my period.
As we exited my car, I grabbed a handful of tampons to toss in my clutch and my date asked me "Omg are you having 8 periods??"
Yeah he thought you used 1 tampon per menstrual cycle. If only- the $ I would have saved over the years!
More people need sex education. No it’s not a bad thing so stop covering up for people.
According to INTIMINA's global brand manager, “the fact is that there is so much shame and taboos surrounding menstruation still today.” But most importantly, “Every individual should think about this and try to make a change - by having open conversations about this normal bodily function,” Zagar said.
“Intimina has been fighting period taboos for years and is doing so by educating and empowering women. Also, Intimina has recently issued The Wonder Girls Guide Book (and an audio version) to help young women prepare for womanhood and feel free of shame connected to periods. The survey on girls shows this is much needed as 53% of surveyed girls feel embarrassed and try to hide the fact they are menstruating while out with friends, 65% feel that way at school, 25% at home,” she told us.
A man once told me I was “too pretty” to have clinical depression. Not even kidding
I was told that I was too young and was faking it. I almost took my life because of it
Had a guy friend in college who seriously thought women leaked blue liquid during their periods, like what you see in maxi pad commercials.
A recent Always pads commercial uses red liquid instead of blue. Literally shouted 'Finally!' at the TV.
Sometimes I'm really astounded at some men's lack of emotional intelligence. I used to think that was a made up stereotype to excuse men's rude/shitty behaviour, but a lot of men really have no idea how carelessly hurtful they can be.
One time a male coworker was telling me about how his girlfriend's apartment complex had a bedbug infestation, and how stressed the whole ordeal was making both of them. He then told me that this experience was really taking a toll on his mental health, and asked me if I thought she would understand if he asked her if they could take a break from seeing each other until "the whole bedbug thing was over." I was like dude, if you can't support her through this how can she expect you to ever stand by her through literally any other hardship in the future? He was adamant that "she wouldn't see it like that" and went ahead with his plan. They had a huge fight and she dumped him.
The fact that so many men believe women can't get pregnant by having sex during their period underlines the work we still have to do, Zagar argues.
“There's no doubt that we still need to destigmatize the talk around periods. People should not be bullied or teased for having periods, which are as natural as men growing hair. It's time to open up and be upfront and frank about what periods mean; in school, university and the workplace. So that we tackle period myths and everyone can appreciate the health concerns they can bring,” she explained.
“I prefer girls who wear little or no makeup”
*references girls with tons of (pink and neutral colored) makeup*
Once had a guy ask me if it "felt good" when I wipe after I pee. I wanted to be like, does it feel good when you hold your thing when you pee?
Geez, that's a new one. I only know the version if it feels good using a tampon 🙄
My 53 yr old ex husband could tell when I was attracted to other men cause my nipples would get hard (I never wear a bra) like dude, sometimes I get cold, and no that 87 yr old man trying his best not too fall over while walking isn’t doing it for me, trust me
Zagar concluded that “periods should be discussed as a normal function of the female body, and it should be called by its name, without euphemisms such as Aunt Flow. Talking and educating about it is the solution to breaking period taboos.”
I was told by an incel that women who have pre marital sex would have tendencies to cheat more than men who had the same. Boy is just mad he's in his 30s and still can't get laid.
When my ex and me discussed how the morning after pill worked and he was genuinely surprised that women don't know whether they are pregnant the day after unprotected sex. He was sure morning sickness would kick in the day after.
So, not only was he unaware how female bodies work, but also how Plan B works.
"You don't spontaneously generate a vaginal opening when your first period comes. You had your entire vagina at birth. No, I'm not pranking you."
"You don't insert tampons, of any size, into your pee hole.. No, that's NOT where the blood is coming from. Well actually.. Your urethra might be bleeding now if you've been trying to shove a tampon applicator up it.."
**Shortened versions of conversations with two of my female friends growing up**
I’m a gay girl. A guy once warned me not to date women who had been married, because I’d never be able to satisfy them.
Still not quite sure what he meant. But anyway, he was so wrong.
My (male) manager at a past job tried to tell me when I was pregnant that morning sickness shouldn't affect my work because it only happened in the morning.
hahahahahahahahahahaha. The idiot, who named it morning sickness should go to hell. I had allday sickness and lot of pregnant women around me had it all day too...
An old boyfriend once explained that if I was having cramps, I just needed to do what his ex did: "there's this one yoga pose that will make that shift in the uterus that usually takes a few days happen in just a few minutes. It drops, and then your period is done in one day instead of four or five". He couldn't elaborate any further, (what "shifts"? What "drops"?) But he swore he was 100% right his ex cut her period down to one day with yoga.
I heard this with my own two poor ears from my own mother: "When a woman shaves her leg, hair shouldn't start growing until the next 4 or 5 days. Only men grow hair every day." MOOOM
She hasn't met me then. I get a 5 o'clock shadow 5 minutes after shaving lol
The "men age like wine, women age like milk" phrase. Then you look at pics of women like Selma Hayek and Catherine Zeta-Jones and take a glance at most men around their age. Maybe, just maybe, some people are blessed with amazing genes while the rest of us look like dehydrated potatoes by the time we hit 40. Got nothing to do with genitals. I have only ever heard this phrase uttered by men who cannot seem to keep any woman around for more than a year at the time.
And in the spirit of equality I will say that there is definitely a female equivalent to this kind of attitude and they too cannot seem to keep a man.
To be fair, Catherine Zeta-Jones has had work done. Which is absolutely fine, but not a completely "natural" look to aspire to.
If more sex meant looser vaginas, having a kid would mean a catastrophe down there. Clearly women have multiple kids, you’d think the logic was simple that it doesn’t work that way.
Sex after giving birth is not like throwing a sausage down the hallway. Actually it is more common that you experience some dryness in your vagina for a few months afterwards, which makes it more sensitive.
I was complaining about my period, and this awful guy goes "just p**s it out for f***s sake"
Guy thought he needed to use a condom with his pregnant gf so she didn't get pregnant again. ....like she could have two babies of different ages in her.
There was one guy online who tried responding to womens' complaints about expensive period products. He started by saying 'a tampon holds 4-12 mls of fluid... women lose about 40 mls per cycle ...
My boyfriend told me to shower in cold water so my period would temporarily stop
Basically anytime a teenage boy tries to describe anything in or about the female body or brain...
So confidently ignorant! So exquisitely condescending! Makes you want to pull your hair out some days...
When a guy commented on a post asking what woman think and said women only care about looks. Like sure, some people of either gender are like that. But I surely don’t care if he’s a 10/10 if he can’t hold a conversation.
I thought the crappy stereotype was that men were supposed to only care about looks
On tv shows shows women go into labour and like 5 minutes later baby is out. They make it seems like baby shoots out of there like a rocket nope it takes like 6 hours of hard labour.
It's different for every woman so it's not necessarily 6 hours.
Sex education classes are so important, especially since they cover vastly more than sex.
That's true. They cover important topics for hygiene and awareness of diseases/cancers/tumors.
Load More Replies...
Reading this got me thinking... Some of these men who have no clue how the female body operates are the same ones making the laws about our bodies. Scary thought! If men were the ones who got pregnant abortions would be available at gas stations & corner stores. And to then say us women should be charged with a crime if we have an abortion?! As if that's an easy decision for a woman to make in the first place. Sickens me!
Like the one who said that if it were a "legitimate rape" the female body could just shut down and not get pregnant.
Load More Replies...
Slightly related: a guy told me AIDS is created in the womb of a woman who has had sex with two men. Maybe from the mixing of the men's cum? I was like o_O citation needed. His uncle was the source - who's apparently not a doctor, scientist or anything like that, but knows what's what.
If it’s Dr. Jane Valedictorian, MD, PhD versus Uncle Outmyass, KWW, well, I know who I’m listening to!
Load More Replies... I just hit menopause, and am finding that women have been woefully unprepared for that, too. Turns out that a hot flash isn't just "oooh, gracious, it's warm," but, rather, hours of full blown panic attacks. Thanks, hormones!
My hot flashes were fairly mild and were only a thing for a few years. Definitely more of a "gracious, it's warm" kind of thing. My mom had them bad and also started having issues with anxiety and increased insomnia. There's such a wide gamut of experiences, as with periods or pregnancies. I do agree that we aren't really taught much about the range of things we can expect, and when we should be worried and see a doctor. I had good sex ed in school that taught me about puberty and periods and pregnancy, but menopause was an afterthought, being so far in the future. It was just "you get older and your periods stop, you can't get pregnant any more and you may have some hot flashes and chin hair."
Load More Replies...
I feel like most of these are a prime example of the Dunning-Kruger effect, where the people with the least knowledge on the subject tend to think of themselves as experts; basically those that are so incompetent that they lack the ability to realize their incompetence.
I can’t look at all these but I want to add my 2 cents! My 1st period 9 days before my 10 th birthday! I was in the car with my dad, it was dark outside, he was taking me to my moms which was hours away! My stomach started cramping and I thought I had to poo so we pulled into a country store gas station! The bathroom was way in the back of the storage room ! It was dark in the storage room and the bathroom was poorly lit! The whole thing was creepy as hell. I tried to poo and couldn’t but then when I wiped I saw it ! I was like “ what is wrong with me? “ I started to get scared and then remembered what I had heard 😂 I laugh now but it was kind of traumatizing as a kid !
When I was a teenager and dating the boy would be my future ex-husband, he told me he was having abdominal pain and hoped it wasn't his ovaries. Something boys don't know how boys work either.
As a single woman I think an opposite sex thread would be good for me. I don't know what I don't know.
To any guys reading this: you can't just 'hold in' the bleeding on our period. It's like having a runny nose when you have allergies or a cold, it happens whether you want it or not
But you can even snort it back up! How rude for us to not be born with that function
Load More Replies...
Even when sex ed IS given it keeps a lot hidden and makes it seem shameful. All of the examples about periods are probably from men who, otherwise, have had enough sex ed. But educators don't tell the boys about anything that exclusively relates to girls for reasons best known to themselves and this is why we end up with such ignorance. We need to do better with and for our boys to make sure they become the men they can be..
My mother got her first period really young, when she was 10. So when I around the same age I had really bad stomach pains she started trying to explain periods to me because of her experience, thinking maybe I was having cramps, even though there was no blood. Eventually we went to the ER and it just turned out to be a really bad urinary infection. But for a couple years after I was really confused about what she was trying to explain to me. Hard to pay attention when you are in a lot of pain and it just didn't make sense to me that young. The whole thing sounded very mysterious.
I kid you not but a classmate of mine forgot that women get pregnant. We were both teens
Playing the devil's advocate here. I'm guessing a lot of things about our reproductive system is still taboo among most cultures. So most of these knowledge are only mother-daughter things. Honestly I grew up without knowing much about this topic either. For things to change, this mindset has to change first.
You can't really blame a man who has never lived with a woman for not knowing exactly how periods work. Some people have never had a woman in their life (mother, cousin, gf, etc.) so they don't understand. It is a tad baffling that some of those mentioned are married though.
My Grandma told me when she was younger she had thought the only way to get pregnant was if the man and woman had an orgasm at the same time (she only went as far as 3rd grade education-wise). She had 12 kids with 7 different guys and said that she only experienced that with the last one but thought maybe she did orgasm before and just didn't know it.
I really don’t want to shame Americans as I do have quite a few friends from there but I cannot help but think that the vast majority of this is indeed American. I am Canadian for the record and even though I grew up in a legit ghetto our Sex Ed was spot on. My best friends (despite one) are male and NONE of them have ever said anything remotely stupid as any of this. And, for the record, neither have any of my ex’s. My current man has legit watched me put a tampon in without any disgust. He has bought me weed (legal here) even though he doesn’t smoke it himself and outright asked these people; “what is god for period pain?” Because he has no clue but at the same time he is not clueless to what I’m going through. That’s both love and awareness. Sex Ed… that’s all I can say. F**k religion and “abstinence”, that ain’t gonna work. Teach the right way to go about things!!
I always feel so guilty when I read the problems women have with periods etc. I never have any cramps and 1 week after my child was born the muscles were back in place
Sex education should be it's own class, instead of a 1 week, highly sensored lesson during health class.
Actually the cold water comment is kind of true. Don't know about the cold part but going into water does stop some women's periods for a while. It does to me, but I'm still always careful, don't want to have any accidents.
Came across a men's advice column once. Today's topic. Advice for new fathers.... Nappies are rated by weight - that means the weight of the child - not the load capacity of the nappy. I thought it was hilarious but needed to be said.
I am more amazed by the women who don't know how a body Works and they suddenly find themselves pregnant
Again that's down to education and the environment they've grown up in. If they're growing up in a religious household and home schooled for example - they're only going to know what the parents want them to know ... That's assuming the parents know anything anyway...
Load More Replies... Sex education classes are so important, especially since they cover vastly more than sex.
That's true. They cover important topics for hygiene and awareness of diseases/cancers/tumors.
Load More Replies... Reading this got me thinking... Some of these men who have no clue how the female body operates are the same ones making the laws about our bodies. Scary thought! If men were the ones who got pregnant abortions would be available at gas stations & corner stores. And to then say us women should be charged with a crime if we have an abortion?! As if that's an easy decision for a woman to make in the first place. Sickens me!
Like the one who said that if it were a "legitimate rape" the female body could just shut down and not get pregnant.
Load More Replies... Slightly related: a guy told me AIDS is created in the womb of a woman who has had sex with two men. Maybe from the mixing of the men's cum? I was like o_O citation needed. His uncle was the source - who's apparently not a doctor, scientist or anything like that, but knows what's what.
If it’s Dr. Jane Valedictorian, MD, PhD versus Uncle Outmyass, KWW, well, I know who I’m listening to!
Load More Replies... I just hit menopause, and am finding that women have been woefully unprepared for that, too. Turns out that a hot flash isn't just "oooh, gracious, it's warm," but, rather, hours of full blown panic attacks. Thanks, hormones!
My hot flashes were fairly mild and were only a thing for a few years. Definitely more of a "gracious, it's warm" kind of thing. My mom had them bad and also started having issues with anxiety and increased insomnia. There's such a wide gamut of experiences, as with periods or pregnancies. I do agree that we aren't really taught much about the range of things we can expect, and when we should be worried and see a doctor. I had good sex ed in school that taught me about puberty and periods and pregnancy, but menopause was an afterthought, being so far in the future. It was just "you get older and your periods stop, you can't get pregnant any more and you may have some hot flashes and chin hair."
Load More Replies... I feel like most of these are a prime example of the Dunning-Kruger effect, where the people with the least knowledge on the subject tend to think of themselves as experts; basically those that are so incompetent that they lack the ability to realize their incompetence.
I can’t look at all these but I want to add my 2 cents! My 1st period 9 days before my 10 th birthday! I was in the car with my dad, it was dark outside, he was taking me to my moms which was hours away! My stomach started cramping and I thought I had to poo so we pulled into a country store gas station! The bathroom was way in the back of the storage room ! It was dark in the storage room and the bathroom was poorly lit! The whole thing was creepy as hell. I tried to poo and couldn’t but then when I wiped I saw it ! I was like “ what is wrong with me? “ I started to get scared and then remembered what I had heard 😂 I laugh now but it was kind of traumatizing as a kid !
When I was a teenager and dating the boy would be my future ex-husband, he told me he was having abdominal pain and hoped it wasn't his ovaries. Something boys don't know how boys work either.
As a single woman I think an opposite sex thread would be good for me. I don't know what I don't know.
To any guys reading this: you can't just 'hold in' the bleeding on our period. It's like having a runny nose when you have allergies or a cold, it happens whether you want it or not
But you can even snort it back up! How rude for us to not be born with that function
Load More Replies... Even when sex ed IS given it keeps a lot hidden and makes it seem shameful. All of the examples about periods are probably from men who, otherwise, have had enough sex ed. But educators don't tell the boys about anything that exclusively relates to girls for reasons best known to themselves and this is why we end up with such ignorance. We need to do better with and for our boys to make sure they become the men they can be..
My mother got her first period really young, when she was 10. So when I around the same age I had really bad stomach pains she started trying to explain periods to me because of her experience, thinking maybe I was having cramps, even though there was no blood. Eventually we went to the ER and it just turned out to be a really bad urinary infection. But for a couple years after I was really confused about what she was trying to explain to me. Hard to pay attention when you are in a lot of pain and it just didn't make sense to me that young. The whole thing sounded very mysterious.
I kid you not but a classmate of mine forgot that women get pregnant. We were both teens
Playing the devil's advocate here. I'm guessing a lot of things about our reproductive system is still taboo among most cultures. So most of these knowledge are only mother-daughter things. Honestly I grew up without knowing much about this topic either. For things to change, this mindset has to change first.
You can't really blame a man who has never lived with a woman for not knowing exactly how periods work. Some people have never had a woman in their life (mother, cousin, gf, etc.) so they don't understand. It is a tad baffling that some of those mentioned are married though.
My Grandma told me when she was younger she had thought the only way to get pregnant was if the man and woman had an orgasm at the same time (she only went as far as 3rd grade education-wise). She had 12 kids with 7 different guys and said that she only experienced that with the last one but thought maybe she did orgasm before and just didn't know it.
I really don’t want to shame Americans as I do have quite a few friends from there but I cannot help but think that the vast majority of this is indeed American. I am Canadian for the record and even though I grew up in a legit ghetto our Sex Ed was spot on. My best friends (despite one) are male and NONE of them have ever said anything remotely stupid as any of this. And, for the record, neither have any of my ex’s. My current man has legit watched me put a tampon in without any disgust. He has bought me weed (legal here) even though he doesn’t smoke it himself and outright asked these people; “what is god for period pain?” Because he has no clue but at the same time he is not clueless to what I’m going through. That’s both love and awareness. Sex Ed… that’s all I can say. F**k religion and “abstinence”, that ain’t gonna work. Teach the right way to go about things!!
I always feel so guilty when I read the problems women have with periods etc. I never have any cramps and 1 week after my child was born the muscles were back in place
Sex education should be it's own class, instead of a 1 week, highly sensored lesson during health class.
Actually the cold water comment is kind of true. Don't know about the cold part but going into water does stop some women's periods for a while. It does to me, but I'm still always careful, don't want to have any accidents.
Came across a men's advice column once. Today's topic. Advice for new fathers.... Nappies are rated by weight - that means the weight of the child - not the load capacity of the nappy. I thought it was hilarious but needed to be said.
I am more amazed by the women who don't know how a body Works and they suddenly find themselves pregnant
Again that's down to education and the environment they've grown up in. If they're growing up in a religious household and home schooled for example - they're only going to know what the parents want them to know ... That's assuming the parents know anything anyway...
Load More Replies...