Recently Redditor u/Ubemin asked, “Guys, what didn’t you know about girls until you dated one?” Well, listen, I don’t expect guys to know everything about what it’s like to be a woman, but my jaw was on the floor reading some of these things they literally had no idea about before they started dating women. Like WHAT????
With all due respect, I’m a bit concerned!!!!!!
CBS
I’ll let the men speak for themselves here. Without further ado, here are 20 things men have revealed they didn’t know about women before they were in a relationship:
1. “How expensive bras are. Growing up, I thought they were like underwear: $7.99 for a four-pack at Target.”
—u/jscooper22
“Oh, bras can be gotten (almost) that cheap, but then they get nasty and try to eat you alive, chewing through both sides of your rib cage and sternum at the same time while also trying to climb up your back and up your nape to break. Good bras do that too, but much more slowly, increasing your chances of day-to-day survival.”
—u/SnailCase
Konstantin Aksenov/Getty Images/iStockphoto
2. “The amount of hair that’s just everywhere.”
—u/Long Jump-Ad-2560
“Once my toe hurt, so I took off my shoe and sock and noticed that a strand of my girlfriend’s hair had wrapped tightly around my toe and cut off the circulation.”
—u/Bout3Fidy
Ipopba/Getty Images/iStockphoto
3. “That there are eyelash curlers. I grew up with sisters but never saw them use one. My then girlfriend pulled one out when we were going out and I was stumped and horrified.”
—u/01kickassius10
Boyloso/Getty Images/iStockphoto
4. “They share a lot more details with their friends than we do.”
—u/PM_Me_UrRightNipple
“My best friend moved four states away and has three kids. I don’t even know the names of his children. We’ll talk for an hour now and then and my wife will ask how his kids are. I replies, ‘Oh, uh… they’re good.’ She will ask, “How do you know that? You didn’t ask him.”
“‘He didn’t mention anything bad about them, so they must be good…’ She’s blown away.”
—u/Drogdar
Granger Wootz/Getty Images/Tetra Images RF
5. “That cis women have a second hole to pee out of.”
—u/drahon
The story goes on
“I learned this surprisingly late in life, and only because I asked a girl if it was inefficient for her to have to take her tampon out every time she went to pee. She was a bit shocked.”
—u/_Norman_Bates
CBC
6. “When they tell you their problems, they don’t always want you to solve them — even if you think you have a quick and easy solution. Sometimes they just want you to listen and empathize.”
—u/HovercraftThin5217
“After about a year of needless fighting with my girl, I learned a trick that I’m going to pass on now: when she tells me about her problems, I give her a hug, look her in the eye and say, ‘Aww, baby’ It does I’m so sorry this sucks. Do you just want love or do you want help?” 95 percent of the time she just buries her head on my chest and says, ‘A little love would be nice.’ Let me tell you something: GAME CHANGER!”
—u/rcolt88
ABC
7. “That washing your hair is something that needs to be planned for and has consequences if neglected or overdone.”
—u/Bertie637
“I just told my husband that I basically have to go through the five stages of grief before I wash my hair.
* Denial: It’s not even that dirty.
* Anger: I friggin’ washed it the day before yesterday!
* Haggling: maybe I can get away with dry shampoo by tomorrow?
* Depression: Now my hair smells like I swept it and it still doesn’t look clean. I’m rude and lazy.
* Acceptance: Fuck it, I guess I’ll just wash it.”
—u/ Graceodymium
Screen Gems
8 “I thought that the sticky side of menstrual pads had to be on the body to stay in place, not on the underwear.”
—u/PhiloPhocion
Photoboyko/Getty Images/iStockphoto
9. “I didn’t realize how bad the unsolicited sexts women get. I mean, I’m a gay guy, which isn’t uncommon either, but they’re usually some uninvited dick pics on Grindr or something. My girlfriends will randomly get super-aggressive texts, like from the realtor who showed them available rentals last year, or from a guy in their lab class they literally never spoke to. And so often.”
—u/PhiloPhocion
Woman looking at a cell phone and then looking stunned
ITV Studios Australia
10. “They shower in hell. I shower first and crank it up until it hurts, and I howl as I jump out of the way. And she’s like, ‘It’s kinda cold.'”
—u/Ineptios and u/the_crazy_cat_man
“My wife made me turn up the temp on our water heater so she could have a hotter shower.”
—u/steamydan
Skynesher/Getty Images
11. “Before I was in a long-term relationship, I had no idea how often women get unwanted public attention from male strangers. I’m not around people who do this (that I know of), and it’s never been every time I’ve heard of something like this or seen it portrayed in the media, I thought it was an outlier or an old one trope. No, it’s an everyday thing and it kind of sucks. “
—u/bytor_2112
Zendaya nodded her head in agreement
PBS Sokal
12. “Your underwear isn’t universal. Certain types of underwear go with certain types of clothing.”
—u/Bertie637
“Also, there are specific undergarments for specific times of the month, times of the day, and/or activities. There are so many types of underwear.”
—u/SpicyPickledMind
Guzaliia Filimonova/Getty Images/iStockphoto
13. “I didn’t realize birth control had so many (often prevalent) side effects.”
—u/_Curzon
“I just stopped taking birth control pills because the progestin-only pill was giving me terrible breakouts and the combination pill was throwing me off balance.”
—u/sylph_breeze
“Oh God. I will never forget sobbing to my then-fiancé (now husband) that I felt like a stranger in my own body. He just said, ‘I don’t think it’s worth having sex without protection. Infant.’ I stopped birth control like a day later.”
—u/angry honeybee
Mindful Media/Getty Images/iStockphoto
14. “How doctors just don’t listen to women when it comes to their own bodies. My girlfriend (and my ex) have both let me take me to doctor appointments so I can check what they’re saying about their own bodies. to experience blowing.”
—u/roguereider1
“When I reported back pain, I was immediately given an X-ray and physical therapy to correct the problem.
“When my wife reported back pain, she was told that if she lost 20 pounds she would be fine. For reference, I’m more overweight than her. She ended up in the emergency room more than 10 times in a year for back spasms. We have checked several times with the GP, no proper exam just assuming she has a weak back and needs to exercise more etc.
“It turned out her pain was biliary spasms – which many have described as an even more painful experience than childbirth. The repeated spasms actually left permanent damage to the back muscles.
“It wasn’t until we went to a private specialist that he diagnosed and fixed the problem with surgery over the next week. He berated us very much about how most doctors totally ignore pain symptoms in women. He said it’s also why so many reproductive system problems are underdiagnosed — women report painful periods and the like, and are more likely to get ‘well, duh’ answers from their doctors than actual investigation.”
—u/Wind_Yer_Neck_In
Witthaya Prasongsin/Getty Images
15. “This discharge is normal and natural. At first I thought my girlfriend had a bladder control problem.”
—u/Excellent-Captain-93
“Don’t worry — bladder control problems come after you have kids.”
—u/WhatTheThrowAway1986
ABC
16. “Your bags are fake!!!!”
—u/Manu442
“The more I learn about women’s clothing, the angrier I get. Like how are you going to have a freaking random pant size number?! How freaking hard is it to make length and waist like the standard for men?!”
—u/buttmagnuson
Wacharaphorn Phetpradub/Getty Images/EyeEm
17. “That a 5 foot, 100 pound woman is able to fill an entire king bed.”
—u/dangerous peyote
“Yep. My fiancee is 1.60 meters tall. We upgraded to a king bed and it still takes up the entire bed. She likes to sleep in the middle, but also diagonally.”
—u/beedukillererd
A woman falling backwards and sideways onto a bed
freeform
18. “This endometriosis is way worse than anything textbooks describe.”
—u/OdinSpherePT
“Endometriosis is the worst thing I have ever experienced in my life. The pain is unmatched. I’ve heard other women say that the pain from spasms is like contractions. Often the back pain and cramps are so debilitating that I can’t get out of bed, and when I do I just go to the bathroom.” One thing I don’t hear very many women talk about is the fact that that endometriosis also causes very large blood clots. It’s so uncomfortable, and when you’re in a situation where there’s no bathroom around… you have a giant blood clot right on the edge of your vaginal opening, just sitting there. Or, worse, it comes out and now you’ve got a huge clot on your pad and blood everywhere. I’ve gone days without eating because it can get so bad. There is no accurate way to describe endometriosis in just words.
—u/its_only_al
Peopleimages/Getty Images/iStockphoto
19. “These mini bobby pins that look like paperclips aren’t just a fashion accessory, they’re also a territory marker. See how many you find in the house after your girl has stayed a night or two.”
—u/Hotsteppa_85
“As a girl, can I just say we’re on the other end of the same problem? Why do they keep disappearing?
—u/ushdiavc6eb74
Getty Images
20. And finally, “That finding the clitoris is not an impossible adventure — as pop culture jokes have led me to believe — an impossible adventure that requires endless amounts of cunning, fortitude, and a guide.” It’s literally right there. It’s impossible not to find. I have no idea what this joke is about.”
—u/malomnus
Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.