Hooray for gender assumptions.

[judecorp]

There's very little I dislike more than the whole stupid idea that wimmin all but change personalities throughout the month because of hormone level differences. Although what I /do/ dislike more is the blanket assumption that all wimmin are the same in this respect, or in the respect of hormones. Or in the respect of /anything/, really.

I caught the tail end of a conversation tonight that this guy was having with some people I was hanging out with. What perked my ears up was the statement that went something like: With men, if you ask them a question on Monday, the answer will be the same throughout the month. With people of the feminine gender (yes, he actually said "feminine gender") everything is up and down. Whatever.

I can't stand when people make gender-assumptive comments, and I /really/ can't stand when people make gender assumptions about me. Not everyone identifies as male or female. Not every female is overflowing with estrogen. Not every woman has a reproductive or hormonal cycle that moves up and down in a predictable fashion. Not everyone with a vagina is a woman. No, you can't pick out a woman with PMS a mile away. You wouldn't know I was bleeding unless I told you or you went looking, and if /I/ can't predict when it's coming (that lovely 2-4 times a year), than I doubt that you can.

It's like I have some sort of radar for these sorts of comments. I turned and asked for a repeat of the comment, so I would know if I should be ready to argue or not. I guess I had my "grrrr" face all ready. It must have been bad if my Jennifer said, "Don't worry about it. Why don't you go back to your other conversation?" Heh. I guess tonight was not a soapbox sort of night.

I was all boy tonight, mister. Please remove head from rectum. Thank you.

Comments

[queerbychoice.livejournal.com]

2-4 times a year? Wait a minute, what kind of a deal did you have to make with Mother Satan to get an arrangement like that?

[troilee.livejournal.com]

I *really* hate comments like that. You know what I hate more? If I'm feeling particularly strong headed about something and someone throws the f*cking PMS comment out. I hate that. Grrr. (okay, I need to calm down, obviously)

Oh, on the 2-4 times a year thing...I had that problem for a number of years and at my recent trip to the new GYN, I was explaining my history to her (I love it when dr.s actually take the time to listen to you), she told me that women whose cycles are that far off tend to have a much higher rate of uterine cancer when they're older. Just fyi (not that I know you well enough to be offering GYN advice to you...oh well, color me brash)

T

[jeffholton.livejournal.com]

Man, you WOULD say that.

[Oh, that is funny on SO many levels!] ;)

[shadist.livejournal.com]

Its only natural that you pic things out like that. Its like when someone says your name across the room. . . Your mind just picks up, on a subconsious lvl, what was said and only makes you aware of some of it.


People who blame anything on PMS, who think that it affects women like the sterotype are most likely idots who have NO idea what they are talking about.


Hope you don't mind my two cents.

this is really just a random string of thoughts...

[chutup.livejournal.com]

there is a different theory as to the health risks of having a period, not having a period, the effects of hormones and such for every day of the month, and then some. for some women, pms is a real burden with real pain associated. i would venture a guess that the environmental toxins exposed to us as a result of living in an industrialized society are a big part of the problem. now, i've had the good fortune of finding a dr. who believes that the healthiest solution for me is continuous hormone therapy, in the form of birth control. haven't had a period in over two years. haven't missed it a bit. haven't had pms. so when you see me acting like a real bitch, that's my genuine personality, not a hormonal spike. er, the real point i'm trying to make here is that men are very very stupid.

[loudprincess.livejournal.com]

Gender assumptions are annoying. Though I tend to be a princess, I also reserve the right to act as emotional or unemotional as I choose.

Hey, I've known many men who seem to have a "cycle." I don't think hormonal changes only effect women. The guys at our shop always get moody around the same time every month.

As to the 2-5 periods a year thing, are you on those birth control pills that limit your cycles? My friend, Nancy was telling me how great they are. Quitting smoking would be a major requirement for me before taking that stuff on.

Re: this is really just a random string of thoughts...

[doulamel.livejournal.com]

You go girl!

[laughingsal.livejournal.com]

Who was it? Was it Josh, that little prick who hangs out at Vic's?

Re: this is really just a random string of thoughts...

[chutup.livejournal.com]

tee hee

Re: the real point i'm trying to make here is that men are very very stupid.

[thinksnow.livejournal.com]

Hey, enough with the gender generalizations! I'm only stupid with a twinge of very stupid on occasion, okay?

Re: the real point i'm trying to make here is that men are very very stupid.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Heh!

All people, regardless of gender, have the tendency to be stupid from time to time. It's just that males tend to corner the market on stupidness about female reproduction. :) Especially when they make comments implying that women can't make decisions (hold leadership positions/be assertive/etc) because their moods fluctuate so dramatically they can't function.

Of course, the medical community allows for this by calling it a /syndrome/.

Ever wonder why women who are capable of reproduction get a /syndrome/ (PMS), and then when they can no longer reproduce, they have another medical problem called menopause?

You just can't win.

Re: You just can't win.

[thinksnow.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's chicks for ya!

is this a pattern!?

[chutup.livejournal.com]

MENstruation
MENopause
MENtal illness

looks like all our problems begin with men?

Re: the real point i'm trying to make here is that men are very very stupid.

[chutup.livejournal.com]

**throwing rocks at you anyways**

[tbonestg.livejournal.com]

Why is it that if someone says that women have more variable moods than men do, everyone asumes he's referring to PMS?

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Why would you say that women have more variable moods, then?

Curious.

Re:

[tbonestg.livejournal.com]

Because most guys I know tend to have pretty much constant moods. For months nothing really changes, we're just "OK".

By way of comparison, women who I've lived with change between good and bad moods. Happy, sad, angry, in between.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

But my question is... what cause are you attributing these variable moods to?

Re:

[tbonestg.livejournal.com]

A combination of social and biological factors.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I'm internally debating whether to ask you to explain more fully or let the thread drop.

I leave this up to you. :)

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Naw, it was tbonestg.

I hate that Josh kid, though.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

As to the 2-5 periods a year thing, are you on those birth control pills that limit your cycles?

Naw. For me, birth control pills = the great evil. Never again.

My messed up reproductive system takes care of my lack of cycles quite nicely, yes. :)

p.s. What do I need birth control for? =P

Re: this is really just a random string of thoughts...

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

so when you see me acting like a real bitch, that's my genuine personality

WHOO! :)

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Your two cents are welcome, of course, because you agree with me. ;)

But you're right about the whole "when someone says your name" thing - I seem to have a real ear for things I want to pick a fight over. :)

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I would say what?

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

she told me that women whose cycles are that far off tend to have a much higher rate of uterine cancer when they're older

As far as I'm concerned, they can take the stupid uterus now if they want it - I'm certainly not using it. The eggs, though - I can sell those for thousands of dollars!

But yeah, I've been told that I ought to regulate my cycles for health reasons and blahblahblahblah... but there is no way in hell I'm going to go back to hormone therapy. Worst four years of my life, and it's irreversible. Yay. :(

Comment anytime.

Be very jealous!

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I'm just reproductively broken.

Somehow, I managed to get too little estrogen, and too much prolactin. Woot. Anti-ovulation.

Re:

[jeffholton.livejournal.com]

I have no idea how that comment got where it is, nor do I remember where it was supposed to go.

Hmf.


Maybe it was just a reference to your concluding line.

Re:

[loudprincess.livejournal.com]

Well, I wasn't meaning that you needed B.C., I just figured you take them to regulate your cycle, like my friend does. :)

Re:

[tbonestg.livejournal.com]

Well, why don't you give me your theory then?

[laughingsal.livejournal.com]

Is he saying that men aren't moody? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAW!

*ahem*

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Mwah!

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I know. I was totally just cracking on you.

I took BC pills for four years in the past and I had a terrible, terrible time. Maybe someday I'll go into it. :)

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Amen, lovah.

Re:

[jeffholton.livejournal.com]

Thanks. :)

Re:

[loudprincess.livejournal.com]

Well, as much as it sucks to have a messed up reproductive system, I'm glad you're not going through that ordeal anymore.

I'm so afraid of the pill, especially since I smoke. My friend, Amy, went to Spain one year, and while she was there, she had a stroke. I think she was maybe 26 or 27. If she smoked, I think it was only occasionally. I don't know how long she was on the pill, but being stuck in a foreign country and having to rely on their medical facilities was a big pain in the ass, from what her sister told me. I am way too young for that stroke crap!

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Well, when it comes to mood fluctuations, my theory, I suppose, would be that all people succumb to changes in mood regardless of gender. If these mood changes are hormone-related, then certainly both men and woman have hormones. I think, though, your statement that men feel the same way about something time and time again and women change their minds a lot is a bunch of bunk.

My debate, though, was that you were quick to say that you weren't implying hormonal factors with regards to women, but when I inquired about the cause, you said social and biological factors.

So I guess I was wondering what biological factors you had in mind. :)

Re:

[tbonestg.livejournal.com]

Well, given that the female mind works a bit differently than a male mind (I've seen the catscans), I'd figure it was more to do with how the different brains are constructed.

There's also the more nurturing role women have played through evolution, as opposed to the killing and dragging back of dead things that the guys got up to.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I don't believe that evolution put women in "nurturing roles." Breastfeeding, sure. Nurturing for life while the men did all the killing and dragging? Naw.

As far as the differing minds, there is scientific "evidence" both ways - that male and female brains are different and that they are the same. The bottom line to all of that research, though, is sexism - no one's really trying to prove whether they're "different," they're trying to prove that one is less efficient.

Fuck that noise.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

God, that totally sucks for your friend!

Yes. Strokes = bad.

Re:

[tbonestg.livejournal.com]

The bottom line to all of that research, though, is sexism - no one's really trying to prove whether they're "different," they're trying to prove that one is less efficient.

I don't think that just because one explores the differences between two things, it means that they're looking for superiority. Most research would seem to be looking for specializations, or how the two brains take different routes to achieve similar results. To make research on the subject taboo is to simply deny ourselves knowledge about ourselves.