AIBU ...........my son, 19, thinks women should never be in a position of power because of their periods

[BlueBirdsNest]

do women having periods make them less capable

I would be ashamed of myself if my son thought this.

Even if I was unable to control my moods and temper due to PMT and for some reason hadn't sought help, I'd expect him not to extrapolate from that that all women were incapable.

My driving instructor informed with an absolutely straight face that there'd be a week out of every month where I would be absolutely incapable of driving and just shouldn't do it. Because, well, you know... of women's issues

Weirdly enough I only had one lesson with him.

Flabbergasted is not the word for my reaction to this BS.

If you look back at the entirety of history, who do you see starting wars, wiping out millions of men, women and children, devoting their lives to inventing better ways to kill millions of people -- yes they have been on different sides, but what do the main monsters of history have in common?

Has your DS done much history in school?

What do you mean when you say 'accepting'?

Men bloody invented "the button"! And have had wars and used this threat ever since.

Women are life-givers and would have created a less destructive world if they had been in power throughout history (am conveniently forgetting ER1 etc. in this statement, saying that I think she was probably as much as a puppet as President Obama, Tony Blair et al)

When he sees politicians on the TV, ask him if he thinks they have their period at the moment. Ask him again a week later. And another week. See if there is any consistency. This will probably embarrass him into abandoning his mindless position, if nothing else.

Feel free to substitute politician with sportswoman, TV presenter, whatever you like.

Oh yeah, and then point him towards some homicide statistics if he'd like to actually get a clue about murderous rages.

I am off to canvass my own 19 yo DS's opinion on this matter. It might just be a case of a 19 year old boy being too overwhelmed by testosterone and fullofit-itis to think straight.

And er, men, without periods, have done a fantastic job of ruling the world haven't they.

witch burnings, apartheid, slavery, the holocaust, Jeremy Clarkson...

Lucky women didn't have any power.

I would simply make this very pertinent observation - some women are affected by hormones 7/28 days a month, however many men think with their cocks 28/28 days a month..... Still think men are the better option?
Me neither.
Yes, I do get a little tetchy when the hormones hit me, but hey, shit gets done when I'm tetchy or the shit hits the fan

Would like to add, one of my pet peeves is women stating here and elsewhere that they are 'hormonal' -- whatever the heck that means.

Ascribing any display of emotion or inability to make up our minds within five minutes of a question being put to our alleged 'hormones' is not doing us any favours and imo women who do this lose a little bit of their dignity every time they do it. When it happens over an entire population and it is something boys grow up hearing, then no wonder they get the wrong end of the stick.

I am willing to be shot down in flames over this but -- women, watch what you say about your 'hormones' when boys or men are listening, or indeed other women or girls.
Do not create a stick to beat yourself or other women with.
Do not take the stick others have used against us and beat ourselves with it.

Our hormones are not a liability. They are our strength.

Maybe men should be permanently stopped from being in power as testosterone screws their brains permanently - whilst if he is saying that periods make women less capable then that is just for what - one week a month (with pmt) or one week a month (when on and knocking back paracetamol) - so half the time maximum.

I do think you should ask him in detail a bit more whether he thinks that women can't think at all due to having periods or if they are just affected at certain times of the month and if so, which time... just to embarrass him a bit more and make him realise how daft his declaration was!

True.

I think we are safe for now Weeble. :o

I can only imagine that conversation math. "Wake up! I need to ask you something...."

Mathanxiety, I agree. It is another way to stop women owning their feelings and it is pernicious.

X post!

I get bad PMT & i get things done pretty quickly at that time of the month

Good point mathanxiety and one I'll remember while my very young DS is growing up, mind you I never talk about my hormones now. What is the effing point about that when it occurs so regularly?

I suspect this is something he has heard somewhere and has repeated to provoke a reaction.

I would have been tempted to say "yes dear. Let's hope you never bring a girlfriend/boyfriend home on a day I've got PMT or I might not be responsible for what I tell them about you. Now, what was that you were saying about power...?"

I am that your DS thinks:
a) The menstrual cycle causes women to commit mass homicide. And
b) There is a button.

His education was your responsibility!

Was he saying it to get a reaction? And what was your reaction OP?

Men are driven by testosterone which is far more dangerous than pmt

If your son has a problem with hormonal people, surely he should be more worried by males being in power? All that testosterone leads to BSDS (Big Swinging Dick Syndrome) where all their energy is dissipated trying to be top dog and nothing useful ever gets done?

"I have brought him up to be 'accepting' "
WTF does that mean?

babs - hilarious. Although I don't like to imagine that with David Cameron in mind.

Periods make women better and stronger than they would otherwise be. We have to put up with a shit load of shit and we are still awesome and push huge babies out of tiny holes and then get up and run families and businesses and, when we get the chance, countries, without being total knobbers (usually).

I'm not sure how the OP's DS could possibly have come to such a ridiculous conclusion unless he is a fully formed plonker. Perhaps he just is.

Oh and agree with mathanxiety about "hormones".

I watched a documentary which demonstrated that the credit crunch was caused by alpha males getting out of control due to the amount of testosterone in their systems. People like this are no better than out of control chimpanzees imo.