It's a birth defect

[cjsmith]

My X chromosome is acting up again. I'm hunched in a nearly-foetal position, perched on the edge of my chair here at work, waiting for the painkillers to kick in.

Yet again the amazement rolls over me: medical science has so far done nothing about this problem. They don't fully understand its cause, they don't have a cure, they can't even usually mask the symptoms (ok I admit I haven't tried narcotics). If men as a group had anywhere near this much trouble from one syndrome, it would be Medical Enemy Number One. There'd be bazillion dollar grants to try to cure it. Until a cure was found, a man desiring corrective surgery to remove the whole offending area would be supported and empathized with and probably have the whole thing paid for by insurance. (Viagra is covered by many medical plans! That's about as medically necessary as a toupee! That's the type of service GUYS get, while I pay all my OTC painkiller costs AND my birth control pills out of pocket.)

Why are women so hated?

Comments

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

It's really nice when guys *get it* -- that it can be *really bad* for some women (including me), and treat it as the serious nastiness that it is.

I've found a disproportionate number of guys who *get it* are guys with daughters. Wives and lovers and sisters and female coworkers are, to some extent, expendable and maybe-only-99%-trustworthy and so forth, but a DAUGHTER... a daughter can spark a guy's first deep interest in the quality of women's lives.

Which means there are quite a few guys out there on whom Diety really NEEDS to inflict a daughter. ;) Maybe some researchers.

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Interesting observation. While I am a guy with daughters, I 'got it' long before they were born, the first time I saw my dearly beloved curled up in agony. Since then, I have seen her peg the needle on a muscle spasm strip chart, and have the needle stay there for well over a minute before it even began to track again, and not ever come anywhere near the relaxed state before it pegged again. I'm told this condition is not as uncommon as some might think, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

Fortunately for my daughters, half of their genetic heritage is through me, and a long line of robust agricultural Irish women who seem not to have been too terribly afflicted with the worst of the conditions. Unfortunately for my daughters, the other half of their genetic heritage is from their mother... When they were minors, I paid premium rates for the optional health insurance that covered their oral contraceptives and OB-GYN care, and counted the money well spent.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Bill, with you I find it absolutely believable that you had clue before you had kids, and that's about the biggest compliment I can think of right at this instant.

The wording of my comment was perhaps unfortunate; I didn't mean to imply that every guy who was a dad gained clue by loving his kids. It just seems sorta disproportionate, and I figure some of 'em do indeed gain clue that way.

Genetics, hmm. I don't take after my mom's side of the family, I don't think. She's never had a twinge of discomfort (and to this day she doesn't quiiiite believe that I do, either). I have no idea about my dad's side. His mom died when he was four...

[wcg.livejournal.com]

with you I find it absolutely believable that you had clue before you had kids, and that's about the biggest compliment I can think of right at this instant.

Thank you CJ. I appreciate that.

I was not interpreting your earlier comment as aimed specifically at me, and intended only to offer my own experience as something of a counter example. In general, I'd agree with you that a lot of men just don't recognize the severity of the situation until they see their daughters laid low by it. (And, alas, some don't even then, though this is usually because their wives and or mothers assure them that the girls don't really feel as bad as they claim.)