"The joys of being a woman? Mate, you've got no idea."

[JellySlice]

^Women.
^
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/56276626

Interesting amd quite well written article. I had to double check i was actually reading a bbc article several times for obvious reasons.

I do like the quote it has to be said. No idea, indeed

"When you're surrounded by men, you have to give the reasons that fit."

So telling.

To digress a little, just noticed the first BBC radio programme to pop up in my podcast feed to have pronouns in the producer credits. The credits! Presumably to hammer home that the presenter, who has a female name, considers themselves non-binary.

So it's good to read a bit of sense here - again it's interesting to see the elements of womanhood that aren't so much fun to identify into.

I also liked this piece about Heather Fisher, an international rugby player with alopecia:

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/56311912

"I suppose I'm not your run-of-the-mill looking girl. That shouldn't even be a phrase but it is," she said. "I feel like it's affected the way people use me in the media or don't, because of the way I look. We do still stare at what's different and we shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, but we do. More females who are slightly 'different' or unique should be on the map, people should be hearing their stories because this is life, this is how it is."

A few months ago the BBC were telling us '10 percent of people suffer from endometriosis'

@notyourhandmaid

"When you're surrounded by men, you have to give the reasons that fit."

So telling.

This stood out to me too. Men have no idea how women live their lives while constantly having to consider the reactions of men. In regard to health (all women’s health not just specific problems that only affect women) we can’t speak our truth as they don’t believe us.

Reminds me of wearing my nan’s engagement ring when I was younger, so I could say I was engaged rather than didn’t fancy them. 10 years I wore her ring and used it as an excuse on countless nights out. They can accept you’re the property of another man, but not that women have agency to chose who we like to date (same as men). It was too dangerous to tell the truth.

Really interesting article, thanks.

I vividly remember when I was training for an event, and I was doing a very hard long interval session. I’d got my period that morning, and half way through the run I was in such agony I stopped and curled up in a ball next to a hedge, howling in pain and trying not to puke. I didn’t know I had endo at that point, I was diagnosed about a year later. Then I had the pattern of relapses and surgeries every two years, and I never got back to my pre endo level of fitness because it wrecked my body too badly.

The “10% of people with endo” makes me so angry. Reminds me, I must fire off a letter to the Endometriosis Society, who appear to have forgotten what a woman is recently, and have been perpetuating this sort of nonsense.