It can be a pain to explain an experience to someone that they just have no fundamental understanding of. For women, this often entails trying to convey the apparently perplexing state of being female to the men in their life.
On Reddit, women are sharing the most frustrating things some men seem incapable of understanding.
Things like period pain and other menstruation-related experiences, public safety concerns, sex bummers, and basic miscommunication. If you’ve ever had a man dismiss your emotions because it’s your “time of the month,” read on.
1. Being Vigilant
“Our constant need to be aware of our surroundings and why going to a public place for a date is usually best for us to feel safe.” — kissmygritts2x
2. Period Problems
“Momentarily forgetting you’re on your period after showering and drying that region real good with the towel…and then looking down and thinking f*ckkkkk.” — PauseAndReflect
3. Sex Positions
“How a position or motion during sex can feel good one moment and then hurt the next moment. Sh*t shifts around.” — Joos96
4. Period Products
“The fact that a pad sticks to the UNDIES not the COOCHIES.” — spideygorl22
5. Too-Long Sex
“That having sex for too long can be incredibly uncomfortable. We often don’t want to go for hours and doing so can cause lots of tears and soreness that isn’t wanted.” — astrobre
6. Gynecological Care
“Gynecological care is a lot more than just pregnancies and delivering babies.” — emkatheriine
7. Problems With Hormonal Birth Control
“That hormonal birth control has a lot more influence on our life than you might think. It affects our mood, weight, might cause depression…and still nobody seems to care.” — ddinedd
8. Everyone Airbrushes Their Photos
“To my husband in particular – photoshopped and airbrushed photos. That every woman he shows me that ‘looks really good for her age’ has doctored the picture. I can show him and he doesn’t believe it.” — BadLuckCharm1966
9. Period Cramps Can Be Serious
“That period cramps CAN cause some women excruciating pain, especially when they have medical conditions like ovarian cysts, endometriosis, etc. I literally have to call in sick at work because I cannot stand up from the pain, thank god my supervisors are women. And my mom has to go to the hospital when she gets her period cause she looses so much blood every time.” — salmonsashimi96
10. Pregnancy
“The sheer fear and possibilities of what could go wrong during childbirth and how it feels to be pregnant. It’s A bit terrifying to me.” — dearlordifkdup
11. Vaginas
“Your vagina doesn’t change with each sexual partner. It doesn’t get bigger. And the ‘roast beef’ that men always use to describe women who have had ‘too much sex’ is just how some women’s labias look naturally. Our labia does not change based on our sexual experience, it is outside of the vaginal opening, there is no way for a penis to change it or stretch it, it’s just there. Some women have smaller, some bigger, some pink, some brown, some uneven.” — onewinghoneybee
12. Pockets
“How difficult it is that none of our pants have usable pockets.” — Stunning-Calendar-10
13. Emotions
“That I can be mad without it being ‘that time of the month.'” — Valoaza
14. Breasts
“Boobs actually weigh quite a bit. I am not exactly a small person and I am on the bigger side, however I have a larger than average chest. Breasts can weight quite a bit depending on how big they are, and can cause serious back pain.” — dumpsterfire1998
15. Personal Safety
“The importance of outdoor lighting in your neighborhood. I enjoy taking walks alone listening to my podcasts and I’m only going to do it in an area that’s well lit so I can see everything around me. Sure, I want to look at the trees and neighbors walking their dogs, but I’m also on the lookout for people that might do me harm.” — TBoguS301
16. Motherhood
“We don’t know how to raise/take care of children. We try hard and learn as we go and sometimes we get it wrong. If we can try so can you. Also that no, not all of us want to be mothers.” — Glittering-Athlete81
17. Listening
“That we don’t want you to fix our problems, we can do that. We just want you to listen to our problems.” — Taurriel
Featured Image: Pexels