why are periods used as an insult/put down?

[SlainteBooyFeckingHoo]

used to embarass women and 'win' an argument?

i also hate always ads. cant watch them. haven't seen the lilypad one but know i would hate it too.

It irritates me because of the joking assumption that all women are irrational, moody and out of control once every month. I resent being included in that because I am not irrational, moody and out of control once a month and many women aren't.

ME TOO singingsands. Have a happy period yourself you fuckers, I always retort. Equipped with my mooncup I now make sarcastic faced at the sanitary towels as I pass them in the shop...

(I have mentioned this before I know)

a friend of mine is a Biologist and tells me that she once read a very persuasive paper which theorised that, since there seems to be no evolutionary advantage to PMS, perhaps that is our natural state and we become a little more kittenish and welcoming around ovulation. :)

yes yes I know you did! I always mention that now when people talk about PMS. :o

I think I like the idea so much because what it boils down to is 'In reality I am a toothy beast who would like nothing more than to eat your stupid testicles on toast with a side of coleslaw but I will be nice to you, O man, because I want your sperm'

don't EVER tell a man you want his sperm it is open to hideous misinterpretation....

It doesn't bother me massively because I KNOW that I can take any discussion about periods and vaginas and cervixes to the ultimate level, by which time any man trying to argue with me will have wimped out with embarrassment.

I thought it was a medical and scientific fact that some women have behavioral changes and mood swings on their period. I have seen men ask women when they are engaged in an argument whether they are on their period or not and I have seen women using it as an excuse to start or to have started an argument.

Ah - so women are just the same as testosterone-fuelled men but we may have 'ovulation syndrome' which makes us nicer and lulls them into a false sense of security?

How many times have you seen comments here on MN along the lines of 'Is this a great baby name or am I hormonal?' or some such idiocy and shooting of the self in the foot.

Some of us are very quick to blame hormones during pregnancy when we present a strong opinion or preference instead of owning our opinions. Not that I think using 'hormonal' as an accusation or a reason for a man not to take a woman seriously, but I hate it when women won't own an opinion this way.

I spend time occasionally with a book group that eventually threw out the books and now we gather to chat. We recently talked about menopause and how liberated many of the members feel now that they don't give a sh$te about how others see them, how surprised their Hs were that they had opinions, how much like PMT it was, only without tearfulness for those who used to have a good blub once a month. I wonder if PMT time is the time when women feel liberated to tell the truth about their lives in a way they don't normally.

I would say though that the man you encountered has some serious issues about women and I would avoid him.

And besides, many men react moodily to certain hormonal changes themselves. I'm not talking about testosterone, but insulin. I know loads of men (DH included) who become thoroughly unreasonable, snappish and moody when their blood sugar's on the low side.....

Maybe try: "And what's your excuse? An insulin high?"

IC is that common? It happens to dh. He's normally a lovely even tempered funny sweet guy but he is a PITA when he's hungry. Is that insulin? I never knew :)

periods are used as an insult because women have them and men don't. some men think that makes periods (and women) inferior. those men are what we feminists call 'idiots'.

My DH informed me that my PMT was not as bad since having the coil fitted.

I informed him that before the coil I may on several occasions have tried to kill him. Now I want to kill him but can't be bothered.

Everyone has good days and bad days no matter what sex you are. Men at work that behave like this would rather think it's your homones than the fact that you have more balls than him.

Alice

I completely disagree with you the only time I could have associated periods with mood change is when I have heard women say that they are in a mood because it is that time of the month. I don't know why you would claim that all the men that say it is because they think the women and periods are inferior. The insult part of it isn't use in the context that women are inferior or periods are inferior it is used in a question to ask if that is why the women are being moody. How is that used to say that women are inferior? It is just the simple fact that they associate being in a bad mood with a period for some reason or another.

When a man at work is aggressive towards me at work I have never thought to raise a mocking eyebrow and say "oh dear too much testosterone".

Maybe I should try it

omg if a woman is pissed off with something it is not polite to immediately enquire whether she might actually being imagining it / over-reacting.

When women express certain emotions (usually ones which are not considered "feminine") it will often be said (if not to their face then behind their back) - Oh don't listen to her - she probably has PMT / is hormonal / is emotional / is prone to over-reacting etc etc. The idea that a woman who is angry or pissed off might actually have a point is often entirely overlooked.

A lot of women say its that time of the month when asked why they have argued/insulted another person and this only reinforces the association of periods with mood changes. If a man has this association then he will use it and it isn't polite but would he really know that if it is what he believes as fact? I just don't agree that men say this because they believe that women are inferior for having them. I think it is more about the 2 things being associated with eachother than anything else.

I agree with omg.

My husband grew up in a female-heavy household. When I had my period he used to ask me (genuinely concerned), are you alright? Are you in pain? Are you over-emotional? Because his mum and sisters used to go on about it so much. Of course, I don't blame them for however they felt but it did have a big impact on dh.

I have heard women talek about moods and anger copnnected to their periods a lot. Much more rarely, a man.

I hear women saying it about themselves. In fact, I think that's all I've heard.

PMS = Pass My Shotgun...

I will not pretend I don't take less shit during my period..I tend to say 'Do fuck off' in mind or body and sometimes out my mouth.. so what? my tolerance level is diminished and?..men have periods too actually...check out your partner sometime..