As surprising as it might sound, the reality is that most men know very little about the biology of roughly half of the population. Not only are many men and boys simply unaware of literally regular occurrences like periods, they tend to be disgusted by them for no good reason.

A man ended up being called out online after he asked his stepdaughter to not use her tampons in the bathroom as it “upset” his sons. He grew agitated when she called the idea ridiculous. Commenters defended the girl, called out his double standards and asked him to think about what sort of message he was communicating to his sons as a parent.

Some young men are ignorant of women’s biology

Image credits: AmparoGV (not the actual photo)

But one dad chose to chastise his stepdaughter instead of educating his sons

Image credits: LightFieldStudios (not the actual photo)

Image source: chancecreator

Many men remain deeply ignorant about this topic

Image credits: Karolina Grabowska (not the actual photo)

While it will inevitably vary from person to person, there are still many men out there who have a very limited understanding of menstruation. This will even include men who have lived with women for years on end. It’s a sort of chicken-or-egg situation, where ignorance might be the cause of disgust or disgust leads to ignorance. While it’s not the worst thing men have said or done to women, it still causes its own host of issues.

Researchers suggest that one issue is how much of society tip-toes around the reality of menstruation, that roughly half of the population experiences on a regular, scheduled basis. While this is not quite as true today as social norms slowly shift, there was a time where even the word menstruation would be seen as “too graphic,” leading most people to use euphemisms.

One 2016 survey found that individual households will even create their own euphemisms about menstruation, including some gems such as “shark week”, “the thing that comes” “having the painters in” and the incomprehensible “Granny’s stuck in traffic.” If you happen to understand that last one, please get in contact with me to explain it.

In general, this tends to mean that women have this monthly experience that they basically can’t talk about with the majority of the population. Most grit their teeth and suffer in silence, but these sorts of stories show that men’s “discomfort” finds a way to overstep even those boundaries.

This ignorance then leads to disdain and disgust without any merit

Image credits: Annushka Ahuja (not the actual photo)

While these might seem comical from a distance, they underscore a larger issue, a society that struggles to accept a woman’s period as a normal occurrence. Remember, this is something that happens to the vast majority of women multiple times a year. It’s generally predictable, down to the day, it has existed as a “feature” of female anatomy since before we were even Homo Sapiens, so the amount of ignorance is deeply confusing.

Other studies have found that this ignorance is often “started” in the family, where topics such as sex education are often not taught well. A household that struggles with basic information about how a baby is made will no doubt avoid menstruation like the plague. The only point of reference most young men have is the vague concept that women bleed every now and then.

Setting aside the fact that this sounds metal as hell, many males default to a feeling of disgust. The father in this story was presented with a home-run-opportunity of a learning moment and he instead turned on his stepdaughter. As some commenters noted, she had her rebuttals locked and loaded.

All in all, as the edit shows, this father did mess up, but seems to have realized the error of his ways. While it’s not exactly stated, one can also hope that he internalizes the effect his body has on space and also communicates that to his sons. This can also serve as an important reminder for men to reconsider how they see and speak about menstruation to women around them. The step daughter’s reaction is a good reality check for the man, as he does not actually have a leg to stand on here.

The dad replied to a few comments

Most folks called him out

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