Alfred

In response to the original post: I am perfectly satisfied with being able to pee standing up, not having to shave in awkward places, not having to give birth, having fewer genital design flaws, etc etc etc

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Janszoon

As far as depression goes, I would argue that they aren't. The degree to which women are more likely than men to suffer from what is described as depression is the same degree to which men are more likely than women to have substance abuse problems. Sounds to me like to different manifestations of the same problem.

I'm not sure what other mental disorders you're referring to, but I know schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are equally present in both sexes.

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Astronomer

By that you're saying that all people who suffer from abuse problems have depression... which I don't think is necessarily true. I don't think they are manifestations of the same problem - mental illnesses are not all the same problem and are incredibly intricate and complex.

I probably should have clarified but I'm basically just talking about depressive and emotional disorders such as depression and bi-polar disorder - NOT other mental disorders such as abuse problems, addiction, anxiety, etc. I'm not saying that women suffer from every single mental disorder way more than men, but simply that research shows depression and other similarly Axis-grouped disorders are more prevalent in women. I just find this interesting, especially since it goes hand in hand with research on hormonal imbalances in men and women.

And I don't necessarily agree 100%, I just find it interesting that all surveys and research clearly indicate that emotional disorders such as the ones I have mentioned are more present in women. There are definitely a plethora of disorders which are more prevalent in men - I know from my work as an integration aide that autism, OCD, and often anxiety seem to be much more common in men. I probably should have not included the umbrella term of mental disorders in my statement, but honed in to the specifics.

Lol, what genital design flaws?

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midnight rain

while I'm not disputing what you say, it does appear as if your talking of this from a guy's POV with the whole 'stud' and 'slut' terminology. and the only thing I have to add is you must remember that we're sleeping with the girls not the guys. obviously sleeping around is a bigger issue when you want to put your junk inside someone's when it's been around too many a-times. if a guy sleeps around, that's his choice not my problem. If a girl sleeps around, it'd be more a medical concern.

i don't speak for all guys either, but i definitely don't think 'stud' when i overhear a guy talking about getting laid every night. i'm more inclined to think douchebag

i hope you can make sense of what i'm saying, my mind isn't at its clearest right now, i'm a lil drunk...

boo boo

Again the kind of disorders that you seem to be bringing up are mood disorders.

I don't think any sane person would debate the fact that women are more moody.

No I'm talking about mental/behavior disorders, and it's still uncertain what the true cause is. I believe that ASPD is 3 times more common with men. As in men are way more likely to become sadistic or narcissistic.

One antisocial disorder that is more common for women is histrionic personality disorder and all you gotta do is watch reality TV to know what that is. But that is something influenced from childhood experience I think, problems stemming from abuse or neglect. Either way it's something that's sad and annoying but people with this disorder aren't as cruel and horrifying as people with other types of antisocial disorders can be.

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Janszoon

I didn't say all mental problems were the same. I was making a connection between two specific things: depression and substance abuse. I'm not the only person to make this connection. Don't you think it's a little odd that men allegedly have a lower rate of depression than women but have much higher rates of substance abuse and suicide? Couple that with the fact that men are raised to be more reticent about discussing their feelings and fairly obvious cause and effect situation becomes apparent.

But, as I mentioned previously, bipolar disorder is equally common in men and women.

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25 Albums You Should Hear Before the Moon Crashes into the Earth and We All Die

last.fm

midnight rain

yeh i was about to bring up the whole suicide thing. women are allegedly more likely to attempt it but men are more likely to succeed. kinda makes you question these so-called 'depression' diagnoses.

boo boo

Yeah Lat said it's a cry for help and like I said attention seeking disorders are common with women.

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VEGANGELICA

This is a long post, even for me!

Yep, it is certainly true that there are phenotypic trends distinguishing the sexes, but still there is overlap: not all men are stronger than women; not all men have heavy facial hair, etc. I agree with you that it is nice when people, regardless of gender, advocate for each other to be whom they wish to be and don't put each other down.

If a pregnancy is wanted, then I think it is a beautiful thing, in a very physical, gritty, raw, bloody, and vomity way.

Liz! You're back! Since I never had strong menstrual pains before giving birth, labor pains were new to me...but you are right, I now realize they feel like strong menstrual pains.

You wondered what it was like to push out the baby. Actually pushing out my baby didn't feel too bad...after 24 hours of labor pains, the pushing part didn't feel more painful for me...and I think the baby's head kind of numbs you. For me, the pushing felt like trying to push out a BM. I had to force the baby out. It felt all voluntary; my uterus didn't seem to be contracting much on her (?) own. I pushed so hard that I ripped my own vagina...which is common, and it heals well after stitches.

Hmm...this last sentence may not encourage many people to experience childbirth!

Tore, this is very interesting, because I feel completely gender neutral, and my gender doesn't define me as a person to the very core of my being at all! The core of my being simply feels alive, neither male nor female.

I agree about enjoying being able to be the one who gets to grow the child, feel her/him move, etc. I tend to like to DO things, and I don't want to miss out. Also, giving birth made me feel very ALIVE, mortal, and yet also connected to all the mothers, and mothers' mothers (etc. etc.) down the tree of life.

"Broody." I can relate! I had a distinct "nesting phase." It was a warm, cosy time of my life, focused almost completely on the child I wanted to welcome into the world.

ABOUT WOMEN SHAVING:

Hmm...I doubt the majority of females would ever think of pulling a sharp metal blade over a vast surface of their body to cut off their hair if doing so weren't a social norm.

I would be interested, Tea Supremicist and Burning Down, to hear your opinions on why you shave if you stopped shaving, went out in public in shorts or a tank top, and experienced people's reactions to your leg and underarm hair (their stares, their cruel comments).

Maybe people in the UK and Canada don't react like they do in the U.S., but after facing ridicule as one does here, I think it would be hard for a woman to say she truly shaves because she WANTS to. Rather, I think she would admit that she shaves because she knows that if she doesn't, she will be ridiculed, and SHE HAS BEEN TAUGHT TO BELIEVE THAT HER BODY HAIR IS UGLY!!!!!! After all, if a woman LIKED her leg and underarm hair, would she shave it off? So, why doesn't she like it?? THAT'S the important question to answer.

Legshaving IS conforming to social stigma. If you were an unshaven woman going out in public, then you would KNOW this, boo hoo.

Definitely, it is important for people to have choices. But when you claim that women shave simply as a positive "choice" and as personal "maintenance," when the alternative is to be mocked and viewed as hideous, while men can walk around with all their leg hair and no one bats an eye, the sexism of women shaving their hair should be obvious.

What I find sad about women shaving off their "unattractive" body hair as part of "personal hygiene" (when the same hair on a man is perfectly accepted) is that women become the instruments of their own oppression, even defending the practice...says the hairy feminist.

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ikvat

I wana be a lesbian.

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But who cares ?