Hey-yo! Disclaimer: This is about female puberty and all that, so if you think it's gross, do not read!
I recently watched Jenna Marbles' most recent video, 'What boys don't understand part 2' (yes, there are two videos so far, there will probably be more) and even though she did not mention periods at all in her video, the comments section of the video is jammed pack full of arguments and "discussion" on the infamous 'time of the month'. Why do I care? Because, from all of the flaming I read and all, I actually feel like I have some stuff to say.
A lot of people don't understand the full extent of what us females go through during our period. What they teach in sexual education is not a lie, but it's the difference between reading about killing a dragon and actually trying to kill a dragon. You know what you're supposed to do, but you really don't know anything.
SO, I know it's gross, but I've sort of compiled a theory of why people take periods for granted, and why us females complaing about it so much.
First of all, exposition: a commenter on this video posted one comment that started the entire flame war, I shall quote:
"i hate girls who complain about periods...blood comes outta ur kooch for like 4-6 days OH MY GOD. really. cramps hurt but its not like you cant pop a tylenol or advil in your mouth, WOW painkillers kill pain? uhh no shit. pms? its not like you can cure that but still its not your free ticket to be a motherfucking bitch. outta all of the shit that happens periods are lie nothing compared to it"
Let's remember flame was created from this, and I will include things I read and things I've surmised from my personal experience as well.
First of all, the "average" period time is in fact, 4-6 days. You are correct. This is what is taught in sexual education. HOWEVER, "Average" does not mean, "EVERY FEMALE ON THE PLANET." I for one had to endure them for an average of 7-10 days, every 3 weeks consistently. And think about it, bleeding out of your, ahem, "kooch", isn't something to sniff at. IT'S UNCOMFORTABLE. Can you imagine? Not only are you bleeding, so, ew, bleeding, but you have to hide it or else other people think, "ew, bleeding", and with hiding it is very uncomfortable! Pads are not comfy! And some ladies don't use tampons for the fear of Toxic Shock Syndrome, a possibly fatal disease caused by bacteria forming in the vagina from shreds of tampons possibly ripping off due to removal. Yeah. Did you know that? Plus, with pads if you don't have enough time to change them you have to sit for who knows how long in your own blood. Yeah. Gross.
And cramps. I used to have cramps that would render me motionless, on the floor and rolling in tearful pain. Advil does have a possibility of removing symptoms, but not for long, and I for one cramp hardcore throughout half of mine and cramp lighter for the rest. Cramps are also a different kind of pain. Though the intensity varies per girl, you have to remember that they're CRAMPS and not one consistent pain. Think of it this way: You got a cramp, in your stomach muscles, but more interior. Whatever. It hurts like a beewatch, but after a while you get used to it and are able to ignore it. Then, miraculously, it's gone! Huzzah! You're free from the---AND THEN IT HAPPENS AGAIN.
You have to get it into your head - cramps hurt not just because of the pain, but the pain is not ignorable. The moment you can ignore the pain, it goes away and then comes back, possibly worse than before. That's why we complain about them.
Finally, PMS. PMS is a very confusing aspect of the menstrual cycle. The big thing is, when a woman menstruates, her body goes through hormonal imbalance. This means that mood swings are very likely, which can result in sudden tears or rage. We can't control it, and this makes us even more frustrated. I bawled my eyes out once because I mildly irritated a villager in Animal Crossing once. I've been asked, "What's wrong?" and could only answer, "I don't know". PMS does stand for Pre-Menstrual Syndrome, but I know many women that have it before, during and even after her actual period. This means for a good week and a half (and I used to get PMS exactly 2 weeks before my period) we are emotionally unstable. We do not like this because we cannot control it.
AND FINALLY, what can maybe blow all of your brains out is that on top of the uncomfortable-ness of pads and the unsettling feeling of bleeding out of your private bits, the never-ending pain and the emotional instability, most women cannot have sex due to their partner's disgust. Another well known fact is that women are hornier during their ovulation period, which happens directly before or after her period, therefore, leads into her period. This means that women start her emotionally unstable, painful, and uncomfortable week or so with excrutiating horniness. And I know no woman that wants to masturbate her bleeding vagina.
Think about that. Be horny, but no sex or masturbation, close to rage/sorrow every second, physically uncomfortable, and in pain for a week EVERY MONTH. Do you understand why we dread it?
However, I don't mean to be really against any guy that does get annoyed at his partner for complaining about her period. I just have to say this because it was a really interesting discovery and answered a lot of questions even for me. Periods are a part of life, and that's why it's not something to really complain about because it's not going to stop just because we don't want it anymore. It does put an interesting perspective on why we want to complain about it in the first place. Think of how much time a woman complains about her period versus the time women are actually on their period.
P.S. I use past tense in a lot of this because after I got on the pill, a lot of my symptoms decreased wondrously. Cramps are still a bitch, though.
