Living as a woman

Oh, that's made me cry. My mum told me about when she sat at my Granny's side as she was dying and sang to her to comfort her.

sisterhood across centuries and millennia

I love that sentiment.

Amniocentesis - being stabbed in the stomach with a giant needle longer than a pencil.
...
Still hanging out laundry with my underwear behind other clothing so as not to attract attention or be stolen. My Mum did this too... and my Nan.
...
Being harrassed, leered at and wolf-whistled on the street since the age of fucking nine.

Being told that because you are honest you are not emotionally supportive and then being told that you’re always trying to fix things. I should just be kind - by non-binary person.

Waking up and wondering what dervish inhabits your body today. Who the fuck would aspire to that bunch of chemical reactions.

Realising having it all, actually means doing it all, not sharing it all equally.
Migraines.
Being expected to be happy and smile.
Being fucked over at work for having a child.
Being the only person in a house of men and boys that knows where anything is or goes.
Not being able to walk alone in certain places.

Having to advocate vocally and forcefully for adequate medical care.

Looking after my mother when she was dying - terrifying, grinding, draining - but realising that I was the latest of many generations of women who have sat watching through the night crying inside but comforting someone they love. I felt as if a thousand hands were beside mine during those nights, sisterhood across centuries and millennia. 💐and 💪and 😢to everyone who has posted.

Nearly dying from an ectopic pregnancy when my 2 DC were toddlers.

Having to make calls to the police to log dodgy behaviour of men in case it escalates. The inconvenience of not being able to go back to the place where the behaviour happened for my own safety.

On the up side: sisterhood. Slightly-pissed and rather-inappropriate conversations in the pub about javelin arse during periods, the womanly camaraderie of LWS/WRN events and bloody good female friendships. And knowing that these are uniquely female things; these never ever include those who call themselves women.

Being called "strident" when you feel strongly about something.
Being called "bossy" when you're trying to get a job done.
Being called "feisty" when ... pass the sick bag, please.
Being expected to laugh at middle age men's oh-so-hilarious wisecracks but getting blank stares when you come up with a piece of clever wordplay of your own.
Knowing that whenever you're in the company of an adult male your safety depends upon him choosing not to attack you.

Christ on a fucking bike. I’m so sorry.

Going to have to quit this thread now as it’s not doing my blood pressure or peace of mind any good.

Wishing a sisterly good night to all you amazing mean girls x

I'm so glad you finally got your precious baby.

Getting a restraining order against an older male for stalking me.

Getting to wear makeup and skirts and having pillow fights…no wait actually:

periods.
fear of periods coming when wanting to be pregnant
fear of periods not coming when wanting to not be pregnant
sexual assault
fear of sexual assault
perimenopause
taking some faulty flat pack furniture back to homebase and having to wait for a man to check it really was faulty before getting a refund 🙄

Being told “I’m glad you’re a woman” when I call a patient into my room.
building a human being inside my uterus
feeding a human being for 6 months with my own body
mumsnet

My children are all grown up now, but my breasts still tingle when I hear a newborn baby's cry

Some of the high points have already been mentioned and I would add Texting my friend the words ‘I’m a Mummy’ after years of infertility.

A low point, the wave of rage at the man who was staring at my daughter as he masturbated whilst we were on the tram. The sight of his scrotum and the sickening movements of his hand 🤮
The police response was ‘Oh he’s so old he’s probably got dementia.’ to which I said ‘He’s so old he’s probably got away with it for fifty years, and he wasn’t so demented that he didn’t know to get off the tram at the next station after I told him to stop doing that.’

My sister never wanted kids and was refused repeatedly

accidental pregnancy at 34 cause so much angst, agrivated existing complex mental health issues, she agonised over her decision then miscarried - the impact was huge - she never had to go through that!

she’s 59 and happily child free now

Being fobbed off by Drs for 25 years for life impacting heavy and painful periods. Having to sit on bus coming back from school for several stops because I couldn’t stand up due to pain at my stop. Having to return home after 20 mins for flooding

my first visit to the dr at age 16 the medical advice was to have a baby then my periods would get better. It was only years later after taking photos of the clots was I eventually taken seriously by a Dr

Having to hold inside me since 17 the complex opposing feelings about my abortion. Feeling desperately grateful I didn't have to carry my rapist's baby yet forever scarred by the experience Unable to share my words with anyone lest they be taken and used to deny other women choice.

Being told online I'm a hateful bigot because my body reacts to unknown males and I ask, just occasionally, to be away from them.

Even in the updated version you don't actually have to be on birth control to be on Topirimate.

"If you and your healthcare professional agree that there are compelling reasons that you are not at risk of becoming pregnant then you may not need to use contraception".

Being told I could only get a tubal ligation after having 3 kids despite being in my 30s and sure for years I would be one and done while my dh got his vasectomy in a nanosecond.

Well of COURSE everything to do with women must centre transwomen as they are the most womeny women of all, as well as the most oppressed. Anything else is just us being big ol' meanies, hoarding our woman-ness and not sharing it etc. etc.

What are you talking about?

You have completely misread the tone and purpose of this thread. No-one is making fun of people, where on earth are you getting that from? I can’t see a single comment that isn’t either a woman sharing an experience that was memorable for her, or someone else being supportive in response.

Women are sharing their experiences borne out of being female; sometimes women talk about these things.

Why do you have a problem with that?

The only sour note in this thread started from your initial post claiming the thread is making fun of others with no evidence at all. Are you paranoid?? Women talking about being female is not an attack on anyone.

If you don’t have anything nice to contribute, piss off.