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!
Also, the fact that lowquacks exists is proof that being a 19 year old boy alone is not enough to make anyone act like MRAL. Magdelyn can be pretty nasty at times, but I’ve never seen her have the kind of meltdown that tends to prompt “holy shit you need help” comments. Some people are both misogynist and not in need of immediate psychiatric assistance, as unpleasent as that thought might be.
I’m actually 18, if we’re being picky.
My experiences so far parallel MRAL’s pretty closely though. I hope the way I come off here doesn’t.
…Perhaps I’ll be an douchebag next year?
That’s part of why people are dismissive towards his “my life has been destroyed by elitist bitches!” stuff. Lots of people are virgins into their late teens or early twenties. Lots of people are not conventionally attractive, or not very high in self esteem. Most people don’t react to those things by deciding that an entire gender is out to get them. The circumstances are fairly commonplace, but the reaction to them is completely irrational in his case. Feeling sad or frustrated about the situation is normal – raging and lashing out at random women is not.
People are pretty dismissive towards Magdelyn too, actually. We just don’t interact with her in the same way that we interact with MRAL because she’s snarky and rude rather than aggressive and ragey.
http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s320x320/308206_10150356234181231_594411230_8801036_1152088012_n.jpg
I have a present for MRAL. xD
I once saw someone whose costume was a giant vulva at the Halloween party in the Castro! It was pretty cool, but I don’t think she could see very well since the kept walking into things.
@CassandraSays
The expression “bumping uglies” comes to mind.
@Ami
I want to lick those….the icing that is xD
Kavette, it doesn’t matter that you’ve had non het relationships in the past. It wouldn’t even matter if you were trans. Speculation about someone based only on stereotypes is deeply problematic.
Actually, I misspoke. It DOES matter that you are cis, Kavette. It does change the nature of your comment that you, as a privileged person, are making these cissexist assumptions. However, in the end, no matter HOW you identify, what you said remains deeply problematic.
As a cis woman in a lesbian relationship, it doesn’t make me happy to hear cissexist comments excused because the speaker has had non het relationship(s). I’m in a non het relationship but I know that doesn’t magically make me not cis. I still have to be aware of my cis privilege, as do you.
@Kavette
It’s clear that you never intended to hurt anybody. However, intent, it’s not actually fucking magic, and you have hurt people anyway. By staying so married to your position, you are continuing to hurt people. If you are truly sorry, you will stop doing that. Apologizing, and then continuing to do what you were doing, is meaningless.
I don’t know about every internet community, but as far as this one, I can give you a few tips. You’re not the first commenter to say some well-received things, and a few problematic things. The trick to continuing to be viewed as someone commenting in good faith is being willing to accept criticism. When someone points out an issue, and you dig your claws in, you lose goodwill with every passing hour and every new comment.
Also, the unfortunate thing about the article is that one has to have member access to read it. How annoying.
Though, in case some people haven’t looked it up: Ethology is the study of animal behavior, a subtopic of Zoology. The journal itself is printed by Wiley-Blackwell.
Some of the most-accessed articles from the journal are:
“Intelligence in Corvids and Apes: A Case of Convergent Evolution?”
“The Science of Animal Suffering”
“Male Siamese Fighting Fish, Betta splendens, Increase Rather than Conceal Courtship Behavior when a Rival is Present”
“Baby Schema in Infant Faces Induces Cuteness Perception and Motivation for Caretaking in Adults”
So, take it for what you will.
When I said my main feminist concern about periods was doctors denying menstrual problems, I did overlook sexists that dismiss women’s concerns as “just being on the rag”. Other people explained it better, and I agree that while I want menstrual problems to be taken seriously by doctors, I don’t want women to be treated like they’re incompetent when they’re menstruating. Yes, PMS symptoms are real, but they do not invalidate a woman’s opinions or feelings.
I feel for you all that get severe menstrual cramps. I make it okay with Ibuprofen, heating pads, and warm baths. By the way, the “Oh God kill me now” feeling is a lot the middle stage of labor. I don’t know what transition feels like, because I had an epidural.
If I ever have any gynecological problems, I usually don’t bother seeing a doctor because they usually don’t examine me in anyway and prescribe me thrush treatments or whatever. I’m usually able to sort myself out unless I know I need antibiotics or something.
I actually do this for most health issues I have. I remember one summer I kept getting tonsillitis over and over. I couldn’t afford to keep going back to the doctor and the antibiotics were taking it out of me. So as soon as I felt the symptoms of tonsillitis returning I stocked up on vitamins, protein and gargled anti bacterial mouthwash several times a day. Win!
Viscaria
I certainly see your point, however in the beginning of my involvement in this thread I spoke about how I perceived ONE person, not a community of people. I do not believe and will never believe in a ranking scale of privilege based on check marks, and don’t for a minute think I should be mute about my opinions because I am not in the same group.
Having said that I do know opinions carry more weight within a group, because of this I have no problem with my opinions being dismissed, but I won’t take them back because to do so would be hypocritical.
Case in point:
An East Indian Hindu colleague and friend of mines daughter is 20 and is dead set upon marrying a Moslem boy from Iran. She is more then upset about this, besides the religious differences her daughter has college and he at 28 is working in a fast food restaurant. My two cents was can’t they just live together?
From a liberal western perspective my answer makes sense. My answer to her problem in her world would bring disgrace upon her whole family. So we talked about that for a while and we laughed about our different views and how well we get along even though .
Real life is easy, this internet thing without facial expression and touch is not so easy. I deal with different cultures on a daily basis (I’ll be in central America in 24 hours) and the one thing I’ve learned is you have to let people have their beliefs and opinions.
I believe that you can’t mock mra extremists while at the same time being PC extremists.
We tell MRAL to get help for specific behaviors that can often be changed with therapeutic assistance/intervention, and point out that it is possible for him to live with less anger and to act in less hurtful ways (to himself and others). As most therapists would also tell him, and as is true regardless of one’s age or sex. We tell him this on the basis of observing specific MRAL behaviors and comments – which we often quote – that indicate he might benefit from therapy.
You “called Mags on her issues with women” by proclaiming that Mags, a trans woman*, is jealous of cis women. You did not cite any specific instance in which Mags indicated her opinions are based on jealousy of any kind, nor did you even offer a helpful general observation, like “you seem to have a lot of issues with women; perhaps you should talk to someone about that.”
MRAL’s and Mags’s behaviors are the issue here. Their motivations are between them and their respective therapists. Your assumption that Mags’s motivations are based on a hurtful bullshit stereotype about trans folks is, frankly, hurtful bullshit.
*(I don’t actually know what Mags’s gender identity is, and I don’t want Mags to feel pressured in any way to tell me. I’m interested in the content of Mags’s comments, regardless of how Mags self-identifies.)
Kavette – Just back off. That’s twice now you’ve declared a LGBT person’s problems to be all about their LGBT status without knowing anything else about them. Just say “oops, that was wrong, I’ve learned now” and back the hell off.
(Also it sounds like your Hindu colleague wasn’t gently laughing off your different views so much as trying to politely escape the situation. But I don’t really know your situation, I just know a lot of liberal Westerners think that way so it all makes senes to me.)
We are PC extremists! We believe it is extremely not okay to make hurtful generalizations. We are extreme about that.
I don’t think you should take so much pride in holding the more moderate “we should make some hurtful generalizations” stance.
THIS times infinity plus the Internet.
1.) Maybe think about the fact that many cis and trans posters all had the exact same interpretation and negative reaction to your comment. We could all be misinterpreting…or you could be communicating ineffectively. If you didn’t mean to use negative stereotypes about trans* people, you need to consider why we all feel that you DID trade in those negative stereotypes.
2.) Yes, you were speaking about an individual, but you did so by using an anti-trans stereotype.
MRAs do this all the time. They call an individual woman a ‘hysterical bitch’ or use other misogynist stereotypes to describe an individual. It’s still ABOUT women as a group because they are using stereotypes used to denigrate women as a group.
And yes, being extreme about avoiding hurtful, triggering, silencing or otherwise harmful language is a GREAT thing!
“Again.. only mra type trans I’ve ever met.”
Trans is not a noun. Please just go away until you get a clue.
(Also it sounds like your Hindu colleague wasn’t gently laughing off your different views so much as trying to politely escape the situation. But I don’t really know your situation, I just know a lot of liberal Westerners think that way so it all makes senes to me.)
We’re friends, she’s aware that my daughters have been in multiple relationships and she doesn’t judge. Different culture can find common ground.
For me that’s a rude and hurtful comment Holly made. I wrote about my friends experience with her daughter and Holly pasted me as a liberal western as being a bad thing .
I am a Liberal western. How is that a bad thing?
I am a proud moderate Canadian, do you actually think an internet board mocking mra’s is the toughest stand I’ve ever taken? Try talking to Kevin O’Leary for an hour or so.
Wait, where did Holly say that being a liberal westerner was a bad thing?
AAAAAAGGGGHHHH