If Men Could Menstruate - Gloria Steinem

[Ben]

you need to change pads much more often than six hours- every 2 is more accurate.

basically, women should either buy pads/tampons or get a diva cup or make things at home?
yet instead of practising other safe sex methods such as oral, abstinence, mutual masturbation, hands, toys, etc, condoms are free?
is this a form of 'shut up women, since you use condoms as well you shouldn't be complaining about things such as this'?
people don't HAVE to use condoms, they don't HAVE to buy condoms, yet they're offered for free.
women HAVE to use some sort of tampon/pad/cup/cloth pads, yet they still have to pay.


what i want to know are reasons tampons and pads are NOT free. not reasons why condoms are in their stead, but just in general why we have to either purchase them, or purchase an alternative.
is it honestly all about capitalism and profit? because having condoms free must have a terrific impact on the economy.
is it truly good ol' supply and demand?
because honestly i find it quite bull hunky that something used for mainly recreational purposes can be handed out for free yet something that is honest to god necessary isn't.
and i highly doubt suddenly having tampons/pads being free will create such a domino effect that all necessities will be free as well.
perhaps it's because it's all too close to socialism; women wanting things for free when they're raising a red flag in their panties definitely raises a red flag itself.

or is this all a very thinly veiled male sex drive versus the female emotional instability and period?
i may or may not be reading too much into it all, but that's what i'm starting to get from all this.

Two words: Baby boomers. If society becomes too populated, that hurts the economy. If there are more cases of STI's, that hurts the well-being of the society. Also, I never said it would create a domino effect. I'm showing you how dumb it is to compare condoms with tampons or pads. Sex protection is more important to the economy than tampons and pads because the direct correlation of supply/demand waivers on the human population. It depends on how you look at things, really. Personally, I think most things are only for capital profit. Yes people don't HAVE to buy condoms, but people don't HAVE to do anything. You say condoms aren't a necessity, but jump 50 years in the future if we price condoms. With more population, the environment, society, suppy/demand, animal extinction, etc. etc. will rapidly increase. At this point, you would consider birth control a necessity. You're looking through this with too small a scope. Think about the longevity of society as opposed to the, "now." If it were me, I would say the whole humanity needs to be reorganized on how things should cost and be used, but I'm not in that position. Sorry. You didn't ask to get periods, I didn't ask to be blamed for other men.

 

[Poontang]

I ASSURE you that is menstruation was a male thing, something and everything would be one to support them with it, because men are valued over women. It is not an accident either, but by design.

Where's my itchy scrot cure then?

By your earlier logic about them wanting to prevent STD and whatever, if condoms were more frequently sought after, they would be even more free.

???

 

[James]

then why aren't other forms of birth control more viable options? why aren't there other types of male birth control?
the world has worried about over population since the 18th century, the thread of over population certainly isn't new news. free condoms clearly aren't stopping this population from getting larger or more disease-ridden.
if you think STI's are prevalent now, imagine how it was 100 years ago.

to be frank, i don't care about free tampons. if i want a tampon so bad, i will steal one. what i care about is the fact that condoms are free because their necessity is ranked higher than a woman's health and sanitary condition. it's honestly a very, very small problem that seriously plagues women in this day and age and the world is incredibly male-dominant which leaves women in a very ****ty position. men get condoms because they let them **** without much worry. yes, women participate as well, but in general we do not gain as much pleasure from penetrative sex as men. women do not get free tampons or pads because that would give men 0 benefits.
the free tampon argument has always been much more than just free tampons, it's the tip of an ice berg most guys honestly don't understand.
women are taught to hold their period with shame because men are disgusted by it.
we can't walk alone at night without fearing some form of harassment or rape.
we have been rejected as being any sort of leader because of our period, because clearly a good leader cannot have any sort of emotional instability.
if we reject a man's advances for sex we're a **** because all we are to them is some hole they like to ****.
we're constantly told we're not as good as men, that we will never understand things like them, that we belong in the kitchen, that all we're here for is reproduction and caretaking, that it's all we're GOOD at. that since our minds are wired so differently we clearly can't handle anything.
we are taught to sexualise ourselves in order for men to like us or notice us, and then if we're sexualised we are blamed when it distracts men from doing productive things.

do i blame you for this? of course not. i highly doubt you're at the front lines declaring women as nothing but vaginas with baby holes and sandwich makers.
do i believe women are the only victims in this society? no. men have things they have to fight for, as well- things they need and will have to fight the 'man's man' type of society.
do i think women should be the ones holding all the power? no. that's ridiculous. a matriarchal society would be just as ****ty as the patriarchal one we have is.
do i think condoms shouldn't be free? hell no, i'm glad they're free. i'm glad safe sex and birth control are being promoted.

i'd like this kind of **** to stop being such an us-versus-them crapshoot. men and women counterbalance each other, we clearly need each other as is show in reproduction. one should not be shoved off to the side as 'oh, that's just a delicate babyhaver'. we are not like the animals in nature; we are painfully self-aware. we function best when we're at a state of equality, and the fact that women have to fight so hard to be listened to is ridiculous.

i'm tired of being turned down for jobs because i'm a girl, even though i was much more qualified than the guy they hired. i'm tired of being scared of things like getting cornered and raped as i walk home, i'm tired of having to deal with being called a **** because i stand up for myself. and god dammit i am tired of knowing women have to choose whether to feed their families or buy a box of tampons.

 

[Ben]

then why aren't other forms of birth control more viable options? why aren't there other types of male birth control?
the world has worried about over population since the 18th century, the thread of over population certainly isn't new news. free condoms clearly aren't stopping this population from getting larger or more disease-ridden.
if you think STI's are prevalent now, imagine how it was 100 years ago.

to be frank, i don't care about free tampons. if i want a tampon so bad, i will steal one. what i care about is the fact that condoms are free because their necessity is ranked higher than a woman's health and sanitary condition. it's honestly a very, very small problem that seriously plagues women in this day and age and the world is incredibly male-dominant which leaves women in a very ****ty position. men get condoms because they let them **** without much worry. yes, women participate as well, but in general we do not gain as much pleasure from penetrative sex as men. women do not get free tampons or pads because that would give men 0 benefits.
the free tampon argument has always been much more than just free tampons, it's the tip of an ice berg most guys honestly don't understand.
women are taught to hold their period with shame because men are disgusted by it.
we can't walk alone at night without fearing some form of harassment or rape.
we have been rejected as being any sort of leader because of our period, because clearly a good leader cannot have any sort of emotional instability.
if we reject a man's advances for sex we're a **** because all we are to them is some hole they like to ****.
we're constantly told we're not as good as men, that we will never understand things like them, that we belong in the kitchen, that all we're here for is reproduction and caretaking, that it's all we're GOOD at. that since our minds are wired so differently we clearly can't handle anything.
we are taught to sexualise ourselves in order for men to like us or notice us, and then if we're sexualised we are blamed when it distracts men from doing productive things.

do i blame you for this? of course not. i highly doubt you're at the front lines declaring women as nothing but vaginas with baby holes and sandwich makers.
do i believe women are the only victims in this society? no. men have things they have to fight for, as well- things they need and will have to fight the 'man's man' type of society.
do i think women should be the ones holding all the power? no. that's ridiculous. a matriarchal society would be just as ****ty as the patriarchal one we have is.
do i think condoms shouldn't be free? hell no, i'm glad they're free. i'm glad safe sex and birth control are being promoted.

i'd like this kind of **** to stop being such an us-versus-them crapshoot. men and women counterbalance each other, we clearly need each other as is show in reproduction. one should not be shoved off to the side as 'oh, that's just a delicate babyhaver'. we are not like the animals in nature; we are painfully self-aware. we function best when we're at a state of equality, and the fact that women have to fight so hard to be listened to is ridiculous.

i'm tired of being turned down for jobs because i'm a girl, even though i was much more qualified than the guy they hired. i'm tired of being scared of things like getting cornered and raped as i walk home, i'm tired of having to deal with being called a **** because i stand up for myself. and god dammit i am tired of knowing women have to choose whether to feed their families or buy a box of tampons.

You've put more effort into this than I have, so I concede.

 

[hannah]

I actually really loved it and it's what would most likely happen if we started all over again, just with male menstruation, not female ones. Not so much today, but men have always felt superior to women and so I could definitely see them using menstruation against women, funding pads/tampons for themselves etc.