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“Sandra is really moody today; she must be on her rags.” These kind of comments are still really common, and not very helpful. The stereotypes about a woman being guided solely by her raging hormones - unable to regulate her own behavior and a bit 'crazy' at certain times of the month - have long been used as an excuse to denigrate women in general and are scientifically well off the mark.

However, hormone balances do play a role in our behavior. According to a Guardian interview with evolutionary scientist Martie Haselton, “Our hormones don’t make us crazy, they don’t make us irrational. They nudge us.” That nudge can lead to some pretty unreasonable ideas, as many women themselves are quite happy to admit!

Twitter user "Twinks" decided to share her story recently and asked others to do the same. “What completely irrational things you have done while being under the influence of hormones?” The responses are both painfully relatable and rather funny.

Image credits: tinytwink

Hormonal by Martie Haselton is an in-depth book about women’s hormones and their effects. Continuing with her interview in the Guardian, she says that everybody is hormonal, and it all comes down to one primary urge. "It makes perfect sense that our biology is designed this way," she says.

"Hormones are signals generated by our brains and glands associated with reproduction in our bodies. The bottom line of evolution is reproduction. We may choose not to reproduce now, and we may have control over that now, but there were millennia where that was the dictating force behind the design of our brains and bodies."

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    When asked about the previous ignorance about the impact of hormones on women, Martie said the controlled scientific standards were partly to blame.

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    "One reason is that scientists were content for many decades with studying the male as the default sex, and that was in part because women had cycles that made them messy," she explained. "If you are doing a scientific experiment, you don’t want noise, you don’t want variation, you want everything to be strictly controlled.

    Some examples of hormones acting up include the odours of attraction when a woman is ovulating. “Samples of tampons collected near ovulation were rated as more attractive then samples collected during any other point in the cycle,” Haselton writes, noting that many animals emit attractive odours to beckon mates when fertile.

    Haselton also debunks the myth about menstrual cycles 'synching' when women live together. "The reason that it’s so easy to think that menstrual synchrony exists in humans is because “normal” cycles among a group of women can easily overlap – and appear to converge,” she explains.

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    Check out Haselton's book for more fascinating information about this important, but misunderstood topic, and enjoy the rest of the stories!

    #6

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    Bored Fox
    Community Member
    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Once I and the bus driver spent couple of minutes wondering why my bus travel card did not work. Then I realized that it was a bonus card for one shop. It was exactly same color as the bus travel card so the bus driver also failed to see what was problem with the card. :D

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    #13

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    MeggersTheFox
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    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Being vegetarian is difficult normally, never mind with raging hormones. Girl, if you want chicken, you deserve it!

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    #23

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    TheKnightOwl
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    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    MIL's can be difficult, but I'm not sure assault is the answer. Being hormonal doesn't excuse behaviour like that.

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    #24

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    Hannyyy
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    5 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I was so annoyed at my ex gf once that I grabbed my best friend, paid for us both to get on the next plane to Amsterdam and stayed there for 2 days. She still doesnt know to this day. Oops.

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    #25

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    Ale_Vidal23
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    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    my gf hit me the last morning after she had a bad dream about me cheating. what a nice wake up

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    #31

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    Blue Cicada
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    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I only washed the dirty clothes that were in the hamper. It took several weeks, but my new husband finally learned that I was not going to pick up his dirty clothes from the bathroom, the bedroom, and the living room floor. I was also not going to go searching all over the house, underneath bed, chair, and couch, looking for his discarded socks.

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    #33

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    Aaron W
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    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Wish I could see the store employee when they opened the box.

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    Shadow Hexus
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    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I did the same but threw them over next doors fence. My partner at the time had to go ask realy nicely to the neighbour to ask for them back. XD

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    #36

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    Madzdad the bard
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    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I just wanted their little vacuum cleaner friend that cleaned up everything.

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    #37

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    SacredPistachio
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    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I feel like i'd do that anyway... i love my dog and would want to comfort them.

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    #39

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    Aaron W
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    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Show the next hoover what happened to the last one. It will behave better.

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    #44

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    A B C
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    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    When you're pregnant wife wants watermelon, time of day and your attire are irrelevant details. You go get her watermelon.

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    #48

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    Lisa Oberling
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    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Okay, mines not funny but it made me realize how powerful hormones can be. After I had my first child I couldn't get ahold of my parents. I was sure that something horrible had happened to them. I called the police and made my husband drive to their house. I was so scared. They were fine just having phone issues. I've never panicked like that before or after that. Also I had a halucinattion of a Whataburger cup floating in my room.

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    Abhinav Singh Panwar
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    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    See, that’s the problem. People assume that the other half is the husband and everybody starts to label him abusive and controlling while literally every other story sounds similar or even worse but people are okay and are even applauding their actions. Double standards?

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    #56

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    Aaron W
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    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Math was the winner here. If you cook three casseroles and smash two on the floor, how much do you have?

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    #57

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    Blue Cicada
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    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    You are blessed that he understood it was the chemicals affecting you, not your true personality.

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    Jordan W.
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    5 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    A little too much? I don't know. maybe ? I don't know

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    Beau Haven
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    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    "Chucked an absolute screaming wobbler" is now and forevermore my new favorite description of a tantrum.

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    GFSTaylor
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    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I got the giggles at the end of that movie - it was so ridiculous.

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    Catlady6000
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    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I remember doing things like this with my ex when I was on birth control pills. I couldn't stop myself, it was as if I was standing to the side of myself, just in disbelief at my behavior. I would actually set him up, knowing I was unreasonable, yet unable to stop. It was horrible for both of us. Obviously for him, but the loss of control over my own actions is something I still feel something like PTSD from

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    #71

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    Eunice Probert
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    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    There's a short story about that. The woman then cooked and served the lamb to the police who came to investigate!

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    #75

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    Aaron W
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    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Once is a bad day, twice is hormones, three times and you're a psycho. Congratulations.

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    #76

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    Aaron W
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    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    That's how you get people's attention. So much more effective than clearing your throat before you speak.

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