To be horrified to learn that there are men .. TMI warning

[Doingtheboxerbeat]

This is not a men bashing thread
There are actual adult men that are unaware that periods can't be controlled like other body fluids and that pads and tampons are there in case of leaks. That we can hold it in until we visit the toilet.

At first I thought bullshit, then I realised, actually how would they know unless someone specifically pointed out the difference. I can't remember ever being told this, because I started in primary school before I learned about it at school.

I discovered this from a Reddit post so probably bs that a single parent man who was probably quite poor and thought that his daughter was wasteful/ too lazy to just not wait to visit the toilet.

I have never in my life met any man that thought this, but then again, I have never asked, but then I think about how many millions of people are uneducated about things that don't really affect them.

This is batshit, right ?

The tampon should be fully inserted in the vagina and none of it sticking out. Apart from it being completely uncomfortable. Also might be that you have the wrong size in for the amount of blood.

I'm afraid quite a few gay men are phobic about female bodily fluids.

It is easily possible.
When I was younger I had terrible body confidence issues (still do but not so bad!) and yes, I would only have sex with my bf in the dark, as in pitch black with no lamp on at night!.
Oral sex wouldn't help as he could feel it but not see it.
If I was my now husbands first and only partner I can see how he wouldn't have a clue what anything looked like unless he caught a glimpse during childbirth.

At the time of voting 90% thought you were being reasonable. I am bewildered by the other 10%.

I enjoyed telling very young Gdcs that the tiny little egg that eventually turned into them, was already in Mummy’s tummy when Mummy was still in Granny’s tummy. Dd was expecting their sibling at the time, so there had already been a certain amount of discussion on the topic.

I well remember those "eggs in your yummy" conversations - plus overhearing DD (then about 4) says to her brother - "Don't push me! I've got eggs in my tummy and you'll break them!"

😂😂

A lot of the things mentioned on this thread I can completely understand not knowing until you're told/find out but the one in the OP frustrates me not only because no, women can't be expected to hold a period like wee but why don't people make correlations anymore? Wee and shit (and apparently farts!) can be held in but other bodily fluids - nose bleeds, puke, sneezes - can't so how hard is it to extrapolate that periods could fall into either camp and at least be open to both ideas until you find out more instead of just deciding 'oh comes from near where wee comes so MUST be the same'. That's what I find shameful, not the not knowing but deliberately being ignorant when you have other examples to go on. Things like when your eggs are made or how your hymen works you don't have other examples.

I knew a chap who thought that when women had their period, they lost literal pints of blood. Obviously some women have awful heavy periods but it's not 'pints' otherwise well, we'd need a blood transfusion each month.

*tummy, not yummy

Sorry - didn't proofread

Why don't you expect them to understand basic biology of menstruation?

School sex education in the 70s when I was taught it was pretty basic. Mine consisted of three TV programmes that covered reproductive basics. It did not deal with secondary things like periods. I only really became aware of that at about 11 when a similarly aged cousin started hers and kept me informed.

I would have thought any sentient male would have been aware of how periods worked by mid teens though. Some of the incidents above are quite depressing

To be fair, I had very little knowledge or understanding about my own body, and had to kind of learn about things as they happened to me. Mostly from Jackie magazine.
My own parents provided absolutely no information to me, and when my own periods started, I told my mum and she didn't believe me. But then I went on to have horrendously heavy periods that lasted almost two weeks so she had to believe me at that point.
We weren't allowed to discuss anything like that at home in front of my dad at all. He wouldn't even come into a shop if towels or tampons were being bought.
Sex education at my school consisted of one short lesson that covered the very functional basics of where the man put the penis...
This was all in the late 80s. I can well imagine that if my male school classmates also had parents as reluctant as mine to discuss such things, that their knowledge would also have been severely impacted and if no one ever put them right, how would they know?

So they don't need to understand the biology of family members? Mothers, sisters, girlfriends, wives?
Really?

Over 25 years later I use reusable pads and period pants so even the postman knows when I'm on my period!

I'm confused by this, is it a turn of phrase, or can you get sanpro delivered?

I use period pants, but don't show the postman 😂

We are less squeamish about all sorts of things being advertised these days - erectile dysfunction and bladder leakage are two example.

It's a good thing

Just quoting you because you mentioned this, not you doing it specifically. But we should really be teaching boys AND girls about all bodily functions. It does no one any favours to keep knowledge secret like this. It’s kind of weird, when you think about. Why can’t/shouldn’t boys be taught about periods? They’re not dirty or shameful, they’re just a bodily functions.

I remember the day, aged about 11 and in year 7, my school teacher gave a lesson on periods, the boys were sent out to do woodwork. She locked the classroom door after them. During the lesson she showed us various sanitary towels, the old fashioned type the size of a brick with loops that hooked on to a belt around the waist. A box of tampons was produced with the words “ These go into your vagina but won’t be suitable until you’re married” this was in 1960. I’d hoped things had moved since then but from this thread it appears not.
Ten years later and married, the husband of a friend asked his pregnant wife when she had to go to hospital to have the holes put into her nipples to let the milk out.

Well thanks to you lot we just had a clarification lesson here, as I decided to double check my son was clear on three holes and not two. He is now clear, as wasn't 100% sure. But we also haven't studied anatomy pictures in depth yet, so I'll let him off being unsure.
I have also now educated myself on the details of what exactly the hymen is. I understand the misconceptions, but I don't think it's a piece of my anatomy that I have ever seen discussed as it's own entity before, certainly it's never mentioned in sex Ed!

@Daffodilsandtuplips

Ten years later and married, the husband of a friend asked his pregnant wife when she had to go to hospital to have the holes put into her nipples to let the milk out.

This made me laugh out loud

Sorry, I just meant he walks past my washing line to deliver the post. I don't think he is interested in the contents of my washing line though. My MIL is horrified that I put my pads and underwear on the line where people can see them.

@elliejjtiny Ah I'm with you! I dry mine on the line too

I thought maybe there was a delivery thing I didn't know about!

I was the same when I wore tampons. Occasionally they would fall out whilst peeing. I think that's normal for some ladies.

My husband, we’ve been together a long time so this was when he was early 20s, he thought that you peel the paper from pads and then just stick it straight onto yourself 😂

So when they employed a man as period ambassador did they quiz his knowledge?