What you don't get about the other gender

In My Humble Opinion
101

(Perhaps this deserves its own thread.)
(Alternatively, perhaps this ought not to be mentioned at all.)

What the heck is it with women and menstrual periods? Birth control pills can end periods, the hormones make the bodies think it is already pregnant. In fact most birth control regimes let women keep their periods. (After all, no period = pregnant and they do not want cause panic.)

On the other hand, you ever hear a woman shout from the rooftops “Hooray! My period is a day early!” I thought not.

Further, menopause ends menstruation. Yet this is commonly dreaded. Is this because of all the other changes a massive hormone change brings? (That is, are the negative effects unrelated to the (perhaps positive) end of menstruation?)

All of this was inspired by the news stories in the New York Times this morning.

102

[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi]

What the heck is it with women and menstrual periods? Birth control pills can end periods, the hormones make the bodies think it is already pregnant. In fact most birth control regimes let women keep their periods. (After all, no period = pregnant and they do not want cause panic.)
[/quote]

Not sure what you’re getting at here. A lot of people suffer unpleasant side effects from birth control pills. And yes, while it is now possible to prevent periods entirely, the long-term effects of doing that are not yet known and a lot of people are reluctant to make that kind of alteration to their bodies.

I don’t know if you are aware of the recent results showing that hormone replacement therapy caused a lot of health problems in women. Serious ones.

Well, no, because she may not be carrying any supplies and there’s all the cramps and other ‘fun’ issues to have to deal with.

Have a look at this http://www.mydr.com.au/default.asp?article=4171 to see what menopause does to a woman. Those female hormones are vital to the proper function of much of the body.

103

I was at work one day and I was in the room while two of my female coworkers were having a conversation. One of them was talking about a cook-out she had over the weekend. They had rented a trampoline for a kid’s birthday party and her husband noticed that if they moved it to the right spot, they could jump off the second floor patio, bounce off the trampoline, and land in their swimming pool. All the men at the cook-out thought this was a great idea and spent the afternoon jumping into the pool this way. And all of the women asked “why?” It wasn’t that they were afraid to do it, they just didn’t see any reason to do it - why go to the trouble of going up to the patio so you can jump back down to the pool? If you want to get in the pool, just get in.

My two co-workers were in agreement that this made no sense. I, on the other hand, immediately saw that this was a great idea and told them so. From that point, we began asking other people in the office. And all of the men saw the appeal of jumping into a pool via a trampoline and all of the women thought it was pointless and silly. And we men agreed with the women - we could see how it was pointless and silly - but we all saw its appeal anyway. It was the equivalent of how women feel about owning a hundred pairs of shoes - they may concede that it’s pointless and silly, but they understand the appeal of the idea.

104

[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi]
(Perhaps this deserves its own thread.)
(Alternatively, perhaps this ought not to be mentioned at all.)

What the heck is it with women and menstrual periods? Birth control pills can end periods, the hormones make the bodies think it is already pregnant. In fact most birth control regimes let women keep their periods. (After all, no period = pregnant and they do not want cause panic.)

On the other hand, you ever hear a woman shout from the rooftops “Hooray! My period is a day early!” I thought not.

Further, menopause ends menstruation. Yet this is commonly dreaded. Is this because of all the other changes a massive hormone change brings? (That is, are the negative effects unrelated to the (perhaps positive) end of menstruation?)

All of this was inspired by the news stories in the New York Times this morning.
[/QUOTE]

I’m not sure what question you’re asking but I’ll try.

Sometimes women are glad when their periods arrive early, like if they’re going on vacation or getting married or something. (I have actually rejoiced at early periods, so maybe you’re not listening hard enough :wink: ) But I don’t think anyone ever looks forward to their period–just the message it indicates. If there were a less inconvenient way to confirm the absence of pregnancy, most women would grab it.

Menopause means not only are you getting older, but that you are officially “old”. All the signs of old age creep up when a woman is no longer fertile–wrinkles and sagging skin, crazy facial hair, hair loss, bone loss, heart attacks. Guys are lucky in that there is no physiological milestone that tells them they’re over the hill.

Again, it’s not the absence of periods that get women down about menopause. If anything, that’s a bonus (although, peri-menopausal women can have the worst periods, something I learned based on my mother’s experience). It’s the hormonal changes and the sadness over lost youth that no one looks forward to.

105

Other than prostate cancer, you mean? The way I understand it, every single man is guaranteed to have prostate cancer if he lives long enough.

But I concede that it’s not quite the same thing.

106

[QUOTE=monstro]
I’m not sure what question you’re asking but I’ll try.
[/QUOTE]

Please excuse my poor writing, allow me to try again.

Women generally do not like having menstrual periods. On the other hand, there are a number of ways to stop menstruating, but these solutions are not embraced.

Symbol of femininity or a curse of nature? Do women have a love-hate relationship with menstruation?

(Was that better? I need coffee.)

107

[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi]
Please excuse my poor writing, allow me to try again.

Women generally do not like having menstrual periods. On the other hand, there are a number of ways to stop menstruating, but these solutions are not embraced.

[/QUOTE]

Because they often come with side effects. Birth control pills take some initial experimention to find the right combination, which means one will no doubt experience very unpleasant side effects for awhile. Like weight gain, mood swings, and massive water retention. Also, there’s the possibility that a woman will bleed more, not less, during this “experimentation” phase. It’s a matter of wanting to stick with the devil you know, even if you hate that devil and wish it would die forever.

I don’t know any woman that loves her period. Rather, it’s the thing the period is associated with that women love. Like, zygote-free uterus, working reproductive organs, and overall good health. Young girls often anticipate their periods because it means they’ve crossed into womanhood, but it doesn’t take them long to get over the novelty of it all.

For me, at least, I have a respect-hate relationship with it, not love-hate. It’s like an annoying ole bitch I have to tolerate because I have to. But I understand it and appreciate its complexities and eccentricities.

108

[QUOTE=essell]
Something I don’t get: Alloy Wheels.
It’s certainly not something all men are concerned about, I think, but I’ve never heard of a female shopping around and looking at hundreds like some guy’s I’ve talked to. So it fits in this thread.
[/QUOTE]
Think of them as shoes for cars. :smiley:

Seriously, I don’t get alloy wheels either. I remember seeing an ad for Wheel Discount City or some such with alloy rims starting at $200 for a set of four (eep) then topping out at $1,750! I cannot grasp the concept of spending $437+ per wheel.

That and wings on front-wheel drive cars.

Does that mean I’ll get kicked out the manly man’s club?

109

ok, what is with the glamour pictures. I understand everyone wants to show their best on the internet, no problem.
Reality on my last three dates… yikes
Try to be real people.

110

Makeup. I don’t get it. You don’t look like that, and it doesn’t really make that much of a difference. I can’t see your pores as well. I usually can’t see your pores. I have to be sickeningly close to tell the difference, and then I can tell you’re wearing makeup by the texture. Lipstick and eye shadow? Most of the time they just look goofy.

Makeup when you’re married I especially don’t get. I know what you look like. You walk around the house like normal. You only put it on when you’re going out. For whom?

111

[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi]
(Perhaps this deserves its own thread.)
(Alternatively, perhaps this ought not to be mentioned at all.)

What the heck is it with women and menstrual periods? Birth control pills can end periods, the hormones make the bodies think it is already pregnant. In fact most birth control regimes let women keep their periods. (After all, no period = pregnant and they do not want cause panic.)

On the other hand, you ever hear a woman shout from the rooftops “Hooray! My period is a day early!” I thought not.

Further, menopause ends menstruation. Yet this is commonly dreaded. Is this because of all the other changes a massive hormone change brings? (That is, are the negative effects unrelated to the (perhaps positive) end of menstruation?)

All of this was inspired by the news stories in the New York Times this morning.
[/QUOTE]

If hormone pills made the body think it was pregnant, there are a lot of horrible things about being pregnant, too. (Actually I’ve always felt that pregnancy was icky.) I would have been happy to do away with menstruation. It always seemed like a terrible design flaw.

Not an issue for me any more and I’m happy. Now looking forward to my hot flashes.

112

[QUOTE=cormac262]
Perhaps some female dopers can shed some insight on this one: jewelry

I don’t get this at all. For men, it appears to be merely “look what I can afford” (to indicate affluence, to attract women who want affluent men, etc.)

But for women is it:

  • Look what my SO gave me ? (and therefore what he can afford ?)
  • Look what my SO gave me ? (and therefore how much he thinks of me ?)
  • Look what I can afford ? (yet men are not as attracted to affluent women as much as vice versa).
  • Look what I have ? (and you don’t) ?

And here’s the REAL kicker - for many women, said jewelry is sometimes only VERY RARELY shown/worn ! Yet it is held in just as high of regard. What is up with that ?

[/QUOTE]

I am wearing (and to the best of knowlege will always be wearing) the necklace and rings he gave me. I see it as…he knows my taste. He knows me. If he sent me a big old diamond I’d know he didn’t know me.

It’s not always about money.

113

These, of course, do not apply to all women but seem generally more applicable to the fairer sex.

  • As previously mentioned, the love of shoes and I’d like to add jewelry.

  • Celebrity gossip.

  • Flirting for the sake of flirting. Well, actually I know they do this to get compliments from men they have absolutely zero romantic interest in…

  • Illustrating every mundane, often irrelevant detail when telling a story.

114

I don’t get the mainstream brand of “guy’s humor” which encourages guys to treat the girls they’re interested in like their guy buddies.

http://zen-denizen.blogspot.com/2008/01/top-10-ways-to-repel-her-with-humor.html

115

I don’t get people of either gender who bump threads that have been mouldering in their grave for a year and a half. :stuck_out_tongue:

116

Quiddity! You are back! does a happy dance

As to the OP, um, hmm. I find it hard to stereotype even good-naturedly because the dude I’m closest to really doesn’t fit stereotypes in a lot of key ways. He hates sports, does most of the cleaning and knows less about cars than I do.

I guess the one thing I don’t understand about men is why they seem to have such a good sense of direction. I’ve never met a man who became easily lost. It seems to be a consistent characteristic, and while I don’t have penis envy, I definitely have InternalGPS-envy.

ETA: Oh my god, I fell for a Zombie thread. Disappointment on a number of levels, here.

117

[QUOTE=tremorviolet]
Things I don’t get about guys:

…Fart and potty humor
[/quote]

I don’t get that either, have never gotten that… I found it bewildering when I was a 7 year old boy.

118

[QUOTE=Quiddity Glomfuster]
Men - why are explosions, chases, crashes, and fights ‘entertainment’?

Why such devotion to sports teams?

How come so many of you are scared of new or different food? I’ve run into many more guys than women who shudder at the very thought of eating, oh, vegetables. What is up with that?
[/quote]

Don’t comprehend any of that stuff either. I like tension and conflict as elements in a good movie but one more car hitting something, rolling midway over on its side while continuing to proceed forward, and then going BOOM! doesn’t do anything for me. I’d like to see more conflicts between ideas, aside from politics (which has been done, often done well, often done poorly, but done at any rate). How about between ideas of how to run a company, or conflicts of perspective on a philosophy department faculty or something?

As for the foods thing, I want a new cuisine to try at least once a month. I can’t relate to folks who will only eat food they’ve eaten before (most of it bland & boring).

119

[QUOTE=cormac262]
But for women is it:

  • Look what my SO gave me ? (and therefore what he can afford ?)
  • Look what my SO gave me ? (and therefore how much he thinks of me ?)
  • Look what I can afford ? (yet men are not as attracted to affluent women as much as vice versa).
  • Look what I have ? (and you don’t) ?
    [/quote]

I am not a woman. I think good jewelry is simply aesthetically pretty to look at. Me, I can’t wear rings or bracelets because they distract the hell out of me especially when typing, but I could do necklace and sometimes do. I never figured that most jewelry-wearing behavior had diddly to do with “look, this is EXPENSIVE, woo!” or “I have this and you don’t”, although sure for some vapid folks I reckon it does.

120

[QUOTE=DianaG]
I don’t get the (mostly male) fascination with cars. Seriously, it’s a car. If it runs well enough to get you from Point A to Point B, then it’s sufficient for it’s purpose.
[/quote]

OK finally I can be typical of my gender :slight_smile:

I do love a good car. I like to be in motion, controlled motion with speed and power, I like the way it feels. And because the equipment is what provides the interface between me and that motion and control and power, it’s easy to feel it as an extension of myself, to get all wrapped up in making it JUST SO. Tweaking, improving, keeping it clean, etc.

My tastes do not run towards wedge shaped contraptions of yesteryear or the bright prmary colored plastic things that look like oversize kitchen appliances that seem to have replaced them, but I do appreciate a fine and responsive vehicle with attractive styling.