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Original poster

Living as a woman

458 replies

MissScarletInTheBallroom · 18/06/2025 19:12

This is a thread for people to give examples of experiences which constitute "living as a woman".

I'll go first.

Peeing on a pregnant test and waiting anxiously to see whether a second line appears.

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DramaAndBullshit · 04/01/2026 20:18

GetDressedYouMerryGentlemen · 02/01/2026 15:38

Me too. Anything a bic can't shift is staying. I sometimes think I have the last fanny hair on the planet.

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You’re not the last, I’m rocking a full retro bush. I only tidy it up if I’m wearing a bikini, but it doesn’t all go, just the edges

feministmom4ever · 03/01/2026 03:49

Trying for years to correct my postpartum rib flare.

Notmycircusnotmyotter · 02/01/2026 21:54

Two pregnancies complete with sickness and PGP, two births and breastfeeding for a total of four years.

RowsOfFlowers · 02/01/2026 20:45

DuesToTheDirt · 02/01/2026 15:33

I think you move in different circles from me, and are probably from a younger generation. I have sometimes let my body hair grow, and mostly used disposable razors (pretty cheap, and probably cheaper than men's shaving costs). I've never had a wax in my life.

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Possibly yeah. I’m 35. I am very hairy though and shaving lasts literally a day, so waxing is the only suitable hair removal method for me. I’ll probably get to a point in my life where I cba though. Tbh I might be there now 🤣

Amazedtobesane · 02/01/2026 15:48

GetDressedYouMerryGentlemen · 02/01/2026 15:38

Me too. Anything a bic can't shift is staying. I sometimes think I have the last fanny hair on the planet.

Show quote history

In my youth I had an impressive mound of pubic hair and allowed it to stay like that. No one ever complained. It's thinned out greatly in recent years, but I've still got a decent amount.

GetDressedYouMerryGentlemen · 02/01/2026 15:38

DuesToTheDirt · 02/01/2026 15:33

I think you move in different circles from me, and are probably from a younger generation. I have sometimes let my body hair grow, and mostly used disposable razors (pretty cheap, and probably cheaper than men's shaving costs). I've never had a wax in my life.

Show quote history

Me too. Anything a bic can't shift is staying. I sometimes think I have the last fanny hair on the planet.

DuesToTheDirt · 02/01/2026 15:33

RowsOfFlowers · 01/01/2026 14:53

Having to spend a bloody fortune on Hollywood / Brazilian waxes.

I mean, having to spend a fortune on hair removal in general as it’s not socially acceptable or it is deemed unattractive despite completely natural.

I think you move in different circles from me, and are probably from a younger generation. I have sometimes let my body hair grow, and mostly used disposable razors (pretty cheap, and probably cheaper than men's shaving costs). I've never had a wax in my life.

inigomontoyahwillcox · 02/01/2026 15:02

Being raped at 14.

Spidey66 · 02/01/2026 14:54

Having a hysterectomy for fibroids.

Bedheadbeachbum · 01/01/2026 20:37

Looking down at my stretched-marked baggy belly, ne'er to be the same post births.

selffellatingouroborosofhate · 01/01/2026 17:05

dynamiccactus · 01/01/2026 15:54

They force you to have the coil to have anti-migraine meds?

Blimey.

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Only for topiramate, because of the risk of harm done to any child conceived whilst on it. For pizotifen and propanolol, you don't need to take contraceptives.

dynamiccactus · 01/01/2026 15:54

Pleasantsort · 18/06/2025 19:33

Having to have the coil put in even though I'm 54 and very unlikely to get pregnant naturally but you have to do it in order to get anti migraine pills(Topirimate). Said meds have a high risk of causing birth defects etc to unborn babies. They have been fab for reducing my migraines though.

They force you to have the coil to have anti-migraine meds?

Blimey.

Playingvideogames · 01/01/2026 15:16

Weighing up the cost/effectiveness/environmental benefits of period pants, reusable pads or disposable pads; then realising they all cost a fortune

RowsOfFlowers · 01/01/2026 14:53

Having to spend a bloody fortune on Hollywood / Brazilian waxes.

I mean, having to spend a fortune on hair removal in general as it’s not socially acceptable or it is deemed unattractive despite completely natural.

Amazedtobesane · 01/01/2026 14:32

I used to read the instruction sheet every single month in case it changed, did it for years.

Seethlaw · 01/01/2026 13:28

Grammarnut · 01/01/2026 12:09

Not being able to use a tampon as a teenager and not being able to work out a way to do it.

I read the instructions very carefully and figured out how to put it in... But apparently I didn't read to the end, because I missed the part about pulling the applicator out. Let's just say I spent a rather uncomfortable morning at school, wondering how other girls and women found this any kind of practical solution :D

DuesToTheDirt · 01/01/2026 13:20

Grammarnut · 01/01/2026 12:09

Not being able to use a tampon as a teenager and not being able to work out a way to do it.

Ah yes. Lying on a bed with a mirror and feeling faint!

Grammarnut · 01/01/2026 12:09

Not being able to use a tampon as a teenager and not being able to work out a way to do it.

Shmoigel · 31/12/2025 17:31

Having my entire lower innards feeling like they are stuck together because I am riddled with endometriosis.

Dislocating your pelvis during childbirth and having to walk around on a broken pelvis for 10
months.

RowsOfFlowers · 31/12/2025 16:52

selffellatingouroborosofhate · 29/12/2025 22:45

I don't. I suspect that it's because my autistic brain doesn't know how to deal with others well enough to maintain a friendship. Plus, social interactions are exhausting.

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I don’t either. I’m not autistic though, but maybe I should get assessed.

Crunchingleaf · 31/12/2025 16:47

Being in a nightclub years ago and some random man grabbed my arm demanding that I dance with him. He was furious when I said no. I still remember the fear creeping through my entire body when I realised no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t get him to let go. Thankfully had a male friend to rescue me.

Giving birth to my first child. Shoulder dystocia meant I was pushing for over an hour and getting nowhere. I remember realising that I had nothing left to give and really did think I would die. Thankfully was in a modern hospital with doctors and midwives so everything was okay in the end. It gave me a new perspective for women living in past before modern medicine.

selffellatingouroborosofhate · 31/12/2025 16:33

Waitwhat23 · 31/12/2025 16:31

www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/gender-inequality-man-woman-switch-names-week-martin-schneider-nicky-knacks-pay-gap-a7622201.html

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That was exactly the case I was thinking of, and I forgot to look it up and link to it. Thanks.

Waitwhat23 · 31/12/2025 16:31

selffellatingouroborosofhate · 31/12/2025 16:28

To what extent does sex play a role in processing experiences that are not directly related to sex?

Examples:

  • Men who are perceived as female, perhaps because they've swapped email addresses for the day with a female colleague, react with shock to discover how others treat them. Women don't react with shock to that treatment, because it's a day ending in Y for us.
  • When a man shouts from his vehicle at a running or cycling woman, she will feel a sexual threat that a running or cycling man wouldn't feel.
Show quote history

www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/gender-inequality-man-woman-switch-names-week-martin-schneider-nicky-knacks-pay-gap-a7622201.html

A man and woman switched names at work for a week. What happened next won't surprise any women

A man realised  women are treated differently in the workplace after he accidentally signed off on emails using his female co-worker's signature 

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/gender-inequality-man-woman-switch-names-week-martin-schneider-nicky-knacks-pay-gap-a7622201.html

selffellatingouroborosofhate · 31/12/2025 16:28

RunningforSam · 31/12/2025 13:35

To what extent does sex play a role in processing experiences that are not directly related to sex? There are significant within sex differences as well as between sex differences in personality traits, life experiences and interests/ preferences.

I regularly attribute experiences as arising from sexism and/or misogyny, which is agreed with or disputed by both males and females. My feminist lens influences how I experience the world, just as ‘trad wife’ views influences others.

I think it’s difficult to categorically attribute differences to sex where sexed bodies are not a definitive factor.

Show quote history

To what extent does sex play a role in processing experiences that are not directly related to sex?

Examples:

  • Men who are perceived as female, perhaps because they've swapped email addresses for the day with a female colleague, react with shock to discover how others treat them. Women don't react with shock to that treatment, because it's a day ending in Y for us.
  • When a man shouts from his vehicle at a running or cycling woman, she will feel a sexual threat that a running or cycling man wouldn't feel.
Merrymouse · 31/12/2025 13:45

RunningforSam · 31/12/2025 13:35

To what extent does sex play a role in processing experiences that are not directly related to sex? There are significant within sex differences as well as between sex differences in personality traits, life experiences and interests/ preferences.

I regularly attribute experiences as arising from sexism and/or misogyny, which is agreed with or disputed by both males and females. My feminist lens influences how I experience the world, just as ‘trad wife’ views influences others.

I think it’s difficult to categorically attribute differences to sex where sexed bodies are not a definitive factor.

Show quote history

I think it’s difficult to categorically attribute differences to sex where sexed bodies are not a definitive factor.

Where sexed bodies are not a definitive factor, isn't that just plain old sexism? Obviously there is in a element of subjectivity in judging whether something is sexist, but that doesn't mean that sexism doesn't exist.