# Do women know about shrinkage? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 5, 2015, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-know-about-shrinkage/719297 "2015-05-05T07:35:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-know-about-shrinkage/719297/21 "2015-05-05T17:50:14Z")
My wife doesn’t. I wear heated underwear, year round. ---
**Author:** ![Macca26](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/13edae/32.png) [@Macca26](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macca26)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-know-about-shrinkage/719297/22 "2015-05-05T18:34:45Z")
I was about to say, haven’t people seen their husbands or boyfriends naked? Nobody lives in such a temperature-controlled environment that their man’s genitals look the same 100% of the time. Hell, my boobs change dependent on temperature, it’s not just a man thing. Besides, where’s the fun in never getting to say, “aw how cute! I better get you warmed back up…”? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-know-about-shrinkage/719297/23 "2015-05-05T18:41:56Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Do girls \*really \*mark their calendars on the day their period starts? I’ve run across references to this practice in fiction, where the the guy notes that the mark is missing for the last month or two… Some do, sometimes; in my case, I did it back in adolescence until I figured out how my cycles worked, and again at times when they have changed. But the mark can be something that one would never figure out without knowing - I definitely never wrote “period starts”! ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-know-about-shrinkage/719297/24 "2015-05-05T19:04:16Z")
> [@zweisamkeit](#): > > \*\* There are, sadly, a lot of crappy gynos who can be really dismissive of concerns like this and/or assume that it’s not _really_ all that irregular, they’re just worrying over nothing. My aunt went through a string of gynos like that. Her period was always brutal - I mean like 2-3 weeks of bleeding, and heavy bleeding too, to fill up pads. And lots of pain. She is 17 years older than me and it is amazing how much 17 years can make a difference. Whereas most of my gynos were good and believed what I said, in her era, they were like “Pshaw - quit your bitching”. She just had a laparoscopic hysterectomy about three years ago. Sometimes girlie parts just give you problems. ☹ ETA: Oh, and I used a star. But I used a star to mark almost everything on my calendar, so I don’t know that it would have helped anyone. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-know-about-shrinkage/719297/25 "2015-05-05T19:16:24Z")
1. Of course. 2. Because at many medical visits, and always for OB/GYN or mammogram, women are asked for “LMP” (last menstrual period), which is measured from day 1 of the period. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-know-about-shrinkage/719297/26 "2015-05-05T19:18:16Z")
My mother kept track of her period on a calendar-- like, future ones, so if she was planning a trip, or event, she could plan around her period-- but she is also the kind of person who puts food that hasn’t been opened yet in Ziploc bags, and buys paper towels by the case. She also bought a drip pan thing to put under the car, because she was concerned it was leaking fluids onto the garage floor (the _garage_), then after a few weeks, got concerned that the drip pan was getting fluid on it (also, she knew where to buy a car fluid drip pan), so she lined it with aluminum foil. Then, she got concerned about the aluminum foil, so that got lined with newspaper, which it became my twice-weekly chore to change. They hadn’t invented those giant Ziploc baggies yet, or I’m sure it would have been in one. Also, the TV remote is in a Ziploc baggie. I do not keep track of my period on calendars. I also don’t plan things around my period. If I did, I wouldn’t have had it right before my wedding, making it impossible to go to mikveh, but eh, whatever. I also do not put remotes in baggies. I know what shrinkage is, and I have known for a very long time. I have a younger brother. I never heard it called “shrinkage” until the _Seinfeld_ ep. though. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-know-about-shrinkage/719297/27 "2015-05-05T19:45:59Z")
Smart women know everything. Dumb women don’t even know where their own genitals are. Particularly the vagina–they think it’s visible. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-know-about-shrinkage/719297/28 "2015-05-05T20:07:13Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > My mother kept track of her period on a calendar-- like, future ones, so if she was planning a trip, or event, she could plan around her period […] She also bought a drip pan thing to put under the car, because she was concerned it was leaking fluids onto the garage floor. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Norse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a9adbd/32.png) [@Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Norse)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-know-about-shrinkage/719297/29 "2015-05-05T20:18:13Z")
> [@Donnerwetter](#): > > What’s the percentage of individuals with two X chromosomes who know about shrinkage? I’m just a little too old to be a part of the Seinfelt generation, but I’d be surprised if any hetero woman who’d had at least one long-term relationship didn’t know about shrinkage. My wife definitely does, and I still haven’t met a woman who didn’t get the joke “the water was _this_ (holding thumb and forefinger about 1cm apart) cold” ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-know-about-shrinkage/719297/30 "2015-05-05T20:26:09Z")
So that’s why my wife asked if there was a cold breeze blowing on me the first time she saw me nekkid. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-know-about-shrinkage/719297/31 "2015-05-05T20:30:34Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > :eek: Good catch! I am chortling now. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-know-about-shrinkage/719297/32 "2015-05-05T20:52:58Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > And, while we are on the subject of things that guys know that girls do not and vice versa: > > Do girls \*really \*mark their calendars on the day their period starts? I’ve run across references to this practice in fiction, where the the guy notes that the mark is missing for the last month or two… > > Is this really a thing? I suppose I could ask my wife, but… no. My mom used to mark her period on the family calendar in the kitchen. I keep track of mine only in my agenda, as I don’t want anyone else to know. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-know-about-shrinkage/719297/33 "2015-05-05T21:24:36Z")
Yup, I do on my own calendar. Nothing worse than being caught surprised! ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-know-about-shrinkage/719297/34 "2015-05-05T21:26:53Z")
Hey, Baby! You know about shrinkage? Come here, I have a problem you can help with. I need a warm hand… ---
**Author:** ![JR\_Brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JR\_Brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JR_Brown)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-know-about-shrinkage/719297/35 "2015-05-05T22:24:23Z")
Yes, we are aware of the phenomenon. At least the straight (or bi) among us. > [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > And, while we are on the subject of things that guys know that girls do not and vice versa: > > Do girls \*really \*mark their calendars on the day their period starts? I’ve run across references to this practice in fiction, where the the guy notes that the mark is missing for the last month or two… > > Is this really a thing? I suppose I could ask my wife, but… no. Yup. Gives you a reminder to make sure you have backup pads & tampons in your bag; don’t want to get blindsided and have your undies end up a bloody mess. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-know-about-shrinkage/719297/36 "2015-05-05T23:22:09Z")
I was kind of surprised to discover how irregular my “regular” periods had actually become. I used to track for FAM on paper, and when I stopped that, I’d gotten into the habit of thinking “oh, it’ll come about the first of the month”. I didn’t really consider that A) the first of the month every month means a swing of 28-31 days because the months aren’t even and B) if I didn’t get it 'till the third, that could be a whole 5 days off schedule, not just 3! Then my forties happened. Thanks to my handy app, I now realize that my “schedule” would make a German faint. 33 days 47 days 29 27 27 27 25 29 42 Zoinks! So, um, yeah, not even close to “regular”, that string of 27s notwithstanding. So really, my app doesn’t help me \*predict \*when my period is going to come…but it does help me convince my doctor that I’m probably not in the family way. And it lets me know that I’m definitely in perimenopause, and if I don’t want last chance fertility surge twins, birth control is still super important. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-know-about-shrinkage/719297/37 "2015-05-06T11:04:43Z")
You asked for a scientific answer; there may well be a “scientific” answer out there where someone or other assesed women’s knowledge of shrinkage, but that’s a lot to ask. IME, even with gay women, women know about shrinkage. Go swimming with a friend and you can sometimes literally see it happening. Why do you want to know, anyway? Did someone see you shortly after you being really cold and you’re worried about her perception of your manliness? I’d say don’t worry unless it was actually invisible and even then don’t necessarily worry. Not every woman wants a big boy (or even a medium boy) and a lot of women are so-so about it, depending on your other characteristics, physical or not. And there’s nothing you can do about it anyway, so there’s no point in worrying. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-know-about-shrinkage/719297.md?page=1)