# Do Women Experience Constipation More Than Men... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 16, 2014, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-experience-constipation-more-than-men/707397 "2014-12-16T15:21:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2014, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-experience-constipation-more-than-men/707397/1 "2014-12-16T15:21:09Z")
…or are laxatives just marketed more heavily towards women? Also, yogurts that are marketed as “supports healthy digestion,” such as Activia, are marketed toward women. Is there a fundamental difference between the digestive systems of women vs. men? And if so, are those differences present in children (that is, are girls’ digestive systems different than boys’)? ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2014, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-experience-constipation-more-than-men/707397/2 "2014-12-16T15:46:50Z")
The menstrual cycle affects the digestive system in various unpleasant ways. The hormones that are released, estrogen and progesterone, can cause constipation, gas, bloating, etc. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2014, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-experience-constipation-more-than-men/707397/3 "2014-12-16T16:57:59Z")
For most families women do most of the shopping so I think they are just targeting potential buyers. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2014, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-experience-constipation-more-than-men/707397/4 "2014-12-16T17:18:18Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Also, yogurts that are marketed as “supports healthy digestion,” such as Activia, are marketed toward women. I meant to add another sentence here: Whatever Activia does (if it does anything at all), does it do for men, too? ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2014, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-experience-constipation-more-than-men/707397/5 "2014-12-16T17:18:21Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > For most families women do most of the shopping so I think they are just targeting potential buyers. I think this is it. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2014, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-experience-constipation-more-than-men/707397/6 "2014-12-16T17:38:01Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > I meant to add another sentence here: Whatever Activia does (if it does anything at all), does it do for men, too? Yes, it works for men just as well as it works for women. 🙂 Read up on probiotics. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2014, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-experience-constipation-more-than-men/707397/7 "2014-12-16T18:13:48Z")
I’m sort of worried about what form a commercial for “A MANS LAXATIVE” would take. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2014, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-experience-constipation-more-than-men/707397/8 "2014-12-16T18:55:49Z")
Either you’d be advised to already be seated on the porcelain throne before you even take it, or … it will still be marketed towards women for the reason already offered by **dolphinboy**. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2014, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-experience-constipation-more-than-men/707397/9 "2014-12-17T20:43:47Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > I’m sort of worried about what form a commercial for “A MANS LAXATIVE” would take. I laughed, but I think this might legitimately be part of it. It’s an indelicate issue, so female-focused marketing might be a way they’ve found to make ads that don’t seem crass or overly clinical. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2014, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-experience-constipation-more-than-men/707397/10 "2014-12-17T21:14:34Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > I’m sort of worried about what form a commercial for “A MANS LAXATIVE” would take. To borrow a line from Florence King, a laxative marketed to men might be called “Get Out Of My Way!”. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2014, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-experience-constipation-more-than-men/707397/11 "2014-12-18T19:03:58Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > To borrow a line from Florence King, a laxative marketed to men might be called “Get Out Of My Way!”. “GRUNT, The Mans Laxative. Because if you didn’t GRUNT, it doesn’t Count.” Another approach: “BLAST-LAX: For the man on the go.”