Watch out, ladies! And feminism! Because guys are totally onto you and your dirty periods. According to a study cited on the blog What Men Think of Women, men can tell when women are on their periods – just by listening to them talk! Well, some of the time, anyway. From a writeup of the research in the Times of India:
Men can actually tell from a woman’s voice when she is having her period, a new study has claimed.
For the study, conducted by Nathan Pipitone at Adams State College and Gordon Gallup from SUNY-Albany, the researchers asked three groups of men to listen to voice recordings of ten women who counted from one to five at four different points over their menstrual cycle.
According to Popular Science, all four recordings were played in a random order and then the first group of men were asked to guess which were made while the women were on their period. The tests revealed that the men were correct 35 per cent of the time, which was described as a ‘significant’ result.
That’s right, ladies! Men can tell whether or not you’re are on the rag – a third of the time!
I myself have developed a technique that can bring this success rate to well over 50 percent – just by listening to women talk!
All you have to do is to pay attention to subtle audio clues, like her saying:
“I just started my period.”
“My period came early this month.”
“Crap. I’ve got awful craps – because of my period.”
“Aunt Flo is paying her monthly visit.” (Note: this works only if she does not actually have an Aunt Flo.)
“It’s shark week! “ (Note: This works only if it is not actually Shark Week on the Discovery Channel.)
“It’s that time of month again. The time when I use tampons, in my vagina.”
“I have reached that point in my menstrual cycle during which blood leaks from my hoo-ha.”
So what does all this mean? According to Christian J at What Men Are Saying About Women, it means the jig is up, feminists! In a post titled How Men can Decode “Women’s” Menstrual Cycle.. , he writes:
This information is what feminist have been trying to hide, delete and deny for many a decade. They are of the opinion that the menstrual cycle is irrelevant and superfluous to their cause and one can understand why when one looks at the studies on how women are affected by it.
In the worst case scenarios, their behaviour are effected to such a degree as to make them totally dysfunctional and even bedridden for the period(intended) of the cycle. The other side of the argument is ofcourse that it is swept under the carpet and not discussed or taken seriously..
Just some added benefits from feminism, as they live in ignorant, self induced silence..
You might as well pack it in, ladies and manginas – because men know!
A third of the time.
NOTE: I have no idea why Christian J. put the word “women” in quotes in the title of his blog post. Like his now-legendary two-dot ellipses, this is a mystery that may forever remain unsolved. Or you could ask him, I guess.
EDITED TO ADD: This post has now inspired a completely disingenuous “Yahoo Answers” query from an antifeminist concern troll who seems to be pretending that this post was not DRIPPING IN SARCASM. Add your answers, if you want!
@Ami: Well, clearly the MRAs would point to this thread as evidence of the feminist hive mind. Or something.
“I did not know there was any type of stereotype that would make a trans woman envious of a cis woman. I thought Mags was frankly unique in that regard.”
But you supposedly know everything, because you’ve had non-het relationships.
Jesus Hell.
I wonder if even YOU are buying your own bullshit at this point.
@Scar
I’ve had a boyfriend. Can I set up a business as an oracle now?
magdylen also says problematic things about men (at least men who aren’t the right stripe of MRA)
I can’t really be bothered to get access to the research that ‘inspired’ this, but I’m betting that the sample size and methodology means the difference between these results indicating that men can sense periods and these results being pure random chance is statistically insignificant.
@Lowquacks
No you can’t. Men can’t be oracles. Because misandry!
Look, I get why what she was saying was problematic but you guys are preachy and self-righteous as fuck, do you not see that? Well-intentioned HUMAN FUCKING BEINGS tend to not be aware of all possible interpretations of things they say, or be naive and genuinely not realize something may be offensive to some group they’ve had no contact with whatsoever or are in a bad mood so say something shitty they regret later
A lot of feminist spaces just have this overly policed, walking-on-eggshells atmosphere. It’s not somewhere you can be wrong or make honest mistakes even if you’re willing to learn, without a bunch of holier-than-thou types descending on you and picking apart your every word. This is one of the reasons for ‘I’m not a feminist but’. This is what people mean when they accuse you of ‘political correctness’ It’s not about being against prejudice, it’s about the smug, self-righteousness that’s used to enforce it.
Give people a fucking break, I’m sure you’re not so perfect yourselves
What does that have to do with the OP?
That is totally how I would choose to accurately and honestly represent someone who consistently says, in as many words, “I’m sorry you were offended, but I was still right to say what I said.”
Oh my christ, don’t I wish this were a more consistent feature of feminist spaces.
My heart, she breaks. “Political Correctness” is nothing but an attempt for privileged people to make marginalized people look like terrible people for looking out for themselves.
Soooooo… we should ignore them when they do? I, for one, hope that if I say something well-intentioned and it ends up hurting people, they will tell me so I don’t do it again.
MRAs are so understanding of everyone! They are totally safe to speak to and disagree with!
In NOT land.
Question: how can feminists be both too aggressive AND too PC?
Other question: have you noticed how rarely are people really willing to learn? Saying “I’m willing to learn” isn’t enough. (same thing is true for apologies)
““Political Correctness” is nothing but an attempt for privileged people to make marginalized people look like terrible people for looking out for themselves.”
Yeah, often it is. Sometimes when people whine about ‘PC gone mad’ they’re whining that marginalized people are getting offended when they insult them.
Other times, it’s a reaction to a genuine atmosphere of censorship that kills discussion. Makes you not want to bother even entering a discussion if you don’t toe the party line because you will be descended upon by the self-righteous.
I’m not just talking about the full-on jerks here. Just well-meaning people who may be blind to their own privilege who get shouted the fuck down before they’ve started. Who may have otherwise been willing to stick around and learn.
“Soooooo… we should ignore them when they do? I, for one, hope that if I say something well-intentioned and it ends up hurting people, they will tell me so I don’t do it again.”
Yes, but believe it or not, it’s possible to tell someone this without coming across as smug and holier-than-thou
I’m confused. How can well-meaning privilege-blind people learn if they never get called on their (our) bullshit?
Oh goody, that sounds swell. Please tell us how we should have responded to Kavette.
@Viscaria: I dunno, he’s coming across as pretty darn “smug and holier-than-thou” in his manly commentary to us all. *settles back to watch what happens to this particular troll though it’s more fun to watch Brandon bow to DAVID FUTRELLE’S BIDDING*
So, feminists shouldn’t be PC because it might offend the delicate ego of blind-to-privilege people?
…
I think there might be a hole in your logic.
Agreed. That’s what happen 99% of the time outside feminists/lgbt/etc spaces. One shouldn’t be able to engage in casual racism/transphobia/homophobia/misogyny… without being heavily called on it.
Anyway, you assume that somebody that go away is somebody who didn’t learn anthing. That might be wrong. Very often are people influenced or convinced without them saying so, because of our ego and the need of time to accept a new idea.
Oh I was just having a rant and I’m a she
“I’m confused. How can well-meaning privilege-blind people learn if they never get called on their (our) bullshit?”
It’s not that, it’s just the attitude people tend to call it out with, like their shit doesn’t stink (you say ‘our’ bullshit so I guess I don’t mean you). Sometimes it’s like people aren’t being called out, they’re being beaten down, and then everyone has a right-on little high 5 about how progressive and enlightened they are. I dunno
And sometimes, well-meaning people say something they shouldn’t, and when called on it refuse to retract it, add other bad stuff, make “I’m sorry you’re offended”-type apologies and keep defending what they said. The reaction is then that other people keep calling them on that.
Why don’t you do what Viscaria said?
@BOris: Sorry for misdgendering, and assuming too much based on screen name.
Hey, I’m known for being PC, hasn’t anyone noticed? Why hasn’t anyone noticed?!
@Viscaria: Ohohohoh! I’ve got this one! You need to respond more obsequiously, because flies like honey and hate vinegar. I mean, actually they like both honey and vinegar. No! I mean, flies’ dietary preferences don’t mean anything. But you should definitely act more humble when you point out someone else’s problematic language, otherwise you’ll seem sanctimonious- and sanctimony tastes sour, right?
And that’s why vinegar tastes great! Or, er…. definitely use more compliment sandwiches to criticize people.
QuantumSparkle wins the prize for presenting a single strategy that we might use, rather than making a bunch of vague statements about what we shouldn’t do!
Also, yeah, who invented that expression? It is silly. Flies love vinegar. And poop! Is poop-flinging a particularly effective way of altering perspectives? XD