# Why Are Men Babies When They Get Sick? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 28, 2003, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-men-babies-when-they-get-sick/210052 "2003-10-28T17:03:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Isabelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5a626/32.png) [@Isabelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isabelle)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-men-babies-when-they-get-sick/210052/1 "2003-10-28T17:03:28Z")
When men get sick, regardless of their physical age, they all become 4-year-olds! Why is that? I mean they whine and moan… Women don’t do that! They are expected to carry on like little soldiers! What is up with that? ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-men-babies-when-they-get-sick/210052/2 "2003-10-28T17:18:06Z")
Perhaps men are sick of being stereotyped. ---
**Author:** ![JocoseBanter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@JocoseBanter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JocoseBanter)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-men-babies-when-they-get-sick/210052/3 "2003-10-28T17:22:25Z")
It’s payback for having to save all the women from roaches. ---
**Author:** ![Rodd\_Hill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ab097/32.png) [@Rodd\_Hill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodd_Hill)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-men-babies-when-they-get-sick/210052/4 "2003-10-28T17:28:00Z")
Actually, this is our evolutionary-developed survival strategy. Mother us, damnit! ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-men-babies-when-they-get-sick/210052/5 "2003-10-28T17:31:08Z")
I do it because I hate freedom. ---
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-men-babies-when-they-get-sick/210052/6 "2003-10-28T17:41:41Z")
4-year-olds are babies? I thought the line was somewhere around the 1-year mark. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-men-babies-when-they-get-sick/210052/7 "2003-10-28T17:49:01Z")
I do it for the same reason you sit around eating bon bons at the beauty parlor while I’m at work earning a living…now where’s my dinner! ---
**Author:** ![Horrifying\_Howler\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df788c/32.png) [@Horrifying\_Howler\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horrifying_Howler_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-men-babies-when-they-get-sick/210052/8 "2003-10-28T18:10:11Z")
I’m a woman and I act like a baby when I am sick. I wish I was sick now, so I could be home in my nice warm bed. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-men-babies-when-they-get-sick/210052/9 "2003-10-28T18:17:17Z")
Because being manly pillars of beefiness takes its toll after a while. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-men-babies-when-they-get-sick/210052/10 "2003-10-28T18:20:49Z")
To get good drugs. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-men-babies-when-they-get-sick/210052/11 "2003-10-28T19:16:05Z")
Because men like to be in control of the situation. Being sick (really sick, mind you) frustrates us because we can’t do the things we’re accustomed to doing, no matter how stubborn we get. So becoming a big baby a) puts us in control of whoever is doing the babying; b) helps us molify our crushed egos by getting the royal treatment; and c) makes us sufficiently content to lay about doing as little as possible (rather than playing a few rounds of golf) thereby speeding our recovery. See? We’re really easy to figure out. Don’t we keep telling you this? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-men-babies-when-they-get-sick/210052/12 "2003-10-28T19:19:18Z")
What the hell is the point of being sick if you can’t get some good sympathy and pampering? If you did away with all that, then NOBODY would get sick any more. Could you live with yourself if that happened? If you outlaw sympathy, then only outlaws…somethingsomethingsomething… ---
**Author:** ![MrTuffPaws](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@MrTuffPaws](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrTuffPaws)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-men-babies-when-they-get-sick/210052/13 "2003-10-28T19:28:03Z")
Ah, the great generalist Isabelle…Last time I checked, I was male, but yet, when I am sick, the female of my domain knows to remove herself from my presence. It has always been this way unless I am non-functioning. Such as having a broken collarbone and needing my teeth flossed. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-men-babies-when-they-get-sick/210052/14 "2003-10-28T19:30:55Z")
\ And what’s the deal with airplane peanuts? \ ---
**Author:** ![Isabelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5a626/32.png) [@Isabelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isabelle)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-men-babies-when-they-get-sick/210052/15 "2003-10-28T19:41:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chefguy \* > \*\*What the hell is the point of being sick if you can’t get some good sympathy and pampering? If you did away with all that, then NOBODY would get sick any more. Could you live with yourself if that happened? If you outlaw sympathy, then only outlaws…somethingsomethingsomething… \*\* Are you saying men pamper women when they are sick? Hmmm Can’t say that I have ever seen that. ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-men-babies-when-they-get-sick/210052/16 "2003-10-28T19:44:21Z")
Wow. Just…wow. ---
**Author:** ![Horrifying\_Howler\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df788c/32.png) [@Horrifying\_Howler\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horrifying_Howler_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-men-babies-when-they-get-sick/210052/17 "2003-10-28T19:56:11Z")
Plus I like drinking soup out of a mug. ---
**Author:** ![Baby\_Fish\_Mouth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a8b319/32.png) [@Baby\_Fish\_Mouth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baby_Fish_Mouth)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-men-babies-when-they-get-sick/210052/18 "2003-10-28T20:25:48Z")
Since I’m not a man, I can’t speak for them. But I know that when I’m sick, I sometimes feel guilt about neglecting my responsibilities to my family and job. Sometimes that guilt forces me to keep going even when I shouldn’t. I don’t think men are all babies when they’re sick. Maybe they’re just more realistic. I think some women are conditioned to put other people’s needs before their own. ---
**Author:** ![DogMom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9c0ed/32.png) [@DogMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DogMom)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-men-babies-when-they-get-sick/210052/19 "2003-10-28T20:44:03Z")
Both my mother and I have absolutely NO problem getting pampered when we’re ill. As a matter of fact, both of us have had to say, “NO! There’s nothing I need! I have everything! Please just go away and let me sulk in misery for a while, OK?” because there’s only SO MUCH “can I do anything else for you” hovering I can take and then I feel guilty because it’s not like he’s being a JERK, he’s just trying to HELP. I don’t really pamper DogDad all that often when he’s ill because he’d really prefer to be left alone. Occasionally he’ll ask for something and I’ll get it but other than that, he gets left to sulk in misery. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-men-babies-when-they-get-sick/210052/20 "2003-10-28T21:06:23Z")
Because it gets us attention from women, which is why we do everything. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-men-babies-when-they-get-sick/210052.md?page=2)