(from a male perspective) – not just individual understanding, but this should be a basic part of biology education – this is an everyday fact of life for half of the world’s population, not some obscure piece of esoterica – it is this sidelining, gaslighting, and willful ignorance that is responsible for so much (easily) preventable suffering

I am a man and I believe yes men should understand menstruation and birth control. Its something humans do and you should have a basic general knowledge of how/why it happens. Also vice-versa, women should understand how/why erections work or don't work. In general we should just be better at understanding each other.

I talk about my cycle so much that any men I'm with are going to learn eventually. I even make my guy friends hear about it.

I'm sure this varies with age, and some younger men may be more immature or resistant at first and I wouldn't consider it a huge red flag unless they were stubborn about it. But I would keep an eye out for other symptoms of toxic masculinity/misogyny at play and start a conversation.

But I'm in my 30s now and if a man is in their 30s and can't follow conversations about menstruation, that's a no-go for me. It would reveal a willful ignorance that I wouldn't be able to abide.

I don't know that i can say i UNDERSTAND menstruation and especially hormonal birth control, but i think men should, at minimum, be taught that they DON'T know about it. A lot of men seem to somehow develop absurd ideas about it, things like women being able to hold it in like pee.

And the other bit is just as ludicrous. Did this guy not carry condoms? Even if you weren't taking it as a medication, being on birth control is just good sense of you don't want to get pregnant. It's much too late to take it when sexual encounter is in prospect; women HAVE to take it proactively .

My personal opinion is, if you're participating in an act, any act be it sexual or not, you should be as informed as you're able to before participating. Especially when it can have high consequences like STDs and pregnancy.

Idk, honestly I don't understand it when people don't want to learn about this type of thing. Learning what people who aren't me experience really just adds to the breadth of my own life experience and helps me understand others. I wouldn't say it's selfish not to want to know, but it just shows a lack of interest, and I'd prefer a partner that is interested in how I experience my life just as I am in theirs.

As for my experience, I've been with my partner for 9 years and he has made an effort and seems genuinely curious (until I talk his ear off and he wants to move onto something else haha). He knows a lot and asks questions when he doesn't.

It seems strange to me that someone would not want to understand something which affects their SO's life so inherently.

Men do have special doctor for their dick, a urologist.

I think your boyfriend is just ignorant and unwilling to learn.

For one, I consider understanding human anatomy to be basic knowledge for adults. It’s a huge turn off when I run into people (overwhelmingly men) who think menstruation is taboo and refuse to learn or hear about it. Everyone should know about biological functions that happen to human beings. It’s natural and it happens to most women once a month. That’s a lot! And it’s literally essential for the continuation of our species.

As for dating purposes, if a (prospective) partner responds to mentions of menstruation with disgust and comments like “ew, I don’t want to hear about that,” that’s a huge red flag for a lack of maturity. Unfortunately, it is incredibly common. However if my husband, who went to Catholic school his entire life, can figure it out through research and having basic empathy, it’s not an excuse for any adult male to be ignorant on this subject.

I mean it’s basic human physiology, like digestion or breathing, so yeah. I’d be concerned if he’s weird about it or disinterested. Especially bc we have two daughters.

I mean it’s basic human physiology, like digestion or breathing, so yeah. I’d be concerned if he’s weird about it or disinterested. Especially bc we have two daughters.

I think men should know. If someone I'm dating doesn't know and isn't open to learning, that's not someone I should keep dating.

my partner literally keeps track of my cycle better than I do, so he warns me it's upcoming. he understands the complications that make birth control not an option, and provides condoms even though it's difficult for him to find comfortable ones. he's less troubled by the general mess of a period than I am.

even my brother, who has done his best to remain uneducated about such things, has a general understanding. he might not know exactly how birth control works, but he knows it doesn't always work or has other effects. he knows we don't have any control over a period, or pms, but that it shouldn't make women crazy and incapable (PMDD sucks, but there's medication so I can be a normal human instead of sobbing for a week).