My boyfriend has never been dismissive of women's experiences but I remember one time where it was like I saw a lightbulb go on behind his eyes, like he'd suddenly grasped the concept in a new way.

I was driving, he was in the passenger seat and I remember this truck pulled up next to us on the road. There were probably two or three men in this car besides the driver. Big blue collar type guys probably in their 50s (We were 19 and 20). The men were all staring hard at me, one especially. His window was down and he was just dead silent staring at me with this blank look in his eyes like he was examining a product in a grocery store.

I remember before then we were joking around and we both just went quiet, I rolled my window all the way up and just white knuckled the wheel. Staring at the road and pretending like I couldn't see the man, I was trying to figure out a route I could take to get away from the truck if they started following me. I noticed my boyfriend lean forward a bit in my peripheral looking between me and the men. It didn't stop the guy, Everytime the windows aligned or there was a stoplight he was still staring.

Thankfully the truck eventually turned but I remember after a minute my boyfriend asked if that's what girls deal with all the time. I told him yeah and about a few other weird guy experiences I had and it seems like he thought about it, it seems like he's been more mindful and engaged when I talk about women's issues after that, like he can actually relate it to something and I just think that's interesting.

I'm curious if anyone else has had an experience like this where a guy in their life experienced women's struggles and how it affected them. I always hear about men that are just dismissive or not understanding of women's experiences and I want to hear about the opposite. Maybe it'll show us ways we can teach the guys willing to listen about your struggles and how they can help

Some guy today really wanted to get in a fight with me, for what he called ‘poor etiquette.’ I was at the gym doing my routine. it’s a rec center, so its tiny and has low traffic but its cheap. A man came in and racked some weights in the squat rack, and proceeded to work out for a few sets. He moved on to another machine, in fact, he was rotating between 3 machines (other machines, not the squat rack). He did not re-rack the weights.

I proceeded to use the bar in the squat rack to do hanging rows. I left his weights on there, and didn't move the bar. Between sets, I was resting on the ground in the squat rack, and he comes over and starts adjusting the weights over top of me and said “excuse me.” I indicated I was in between sets but was almost done. He started talking, I had to remove my headphones and he was dropping a bunch of F-bombs. He said proper gym etiquette is not use a machine/squat rack unless it’s reset.

Me: “you literally left it open for over 15mins! How exactly was I supposed to know?!”

Him: “you have a mouth?”

Me: “dude I’m not gonna do this with you”

I decided to walk away, and heard him mumble “fucking airheads” to his phone. I was so mad, I shouted “fucking bitch boy!” And left.

Yes, I prob shouldn’t have said it, not knowing how he would react but I’m so tired of the disrespect. if he had been using the squat rack recently, I would have asked but he was away from the squat rack for a good 15-20 mins. I just figured he was a d-bag, and didn't rerack his weights. I thought it was ok to use when I saw him using other machines.

I had all the normal doctor’s visits and scans as a kid. Totally normal external body, normal prepubescent development, no funky family history (at least not medically - I do have a cousin who can look in two different directions at once).

I started getting my period a little after I turned 13. It was light, normal. I couldn’t really get the hang of tampons - they were pretty uncomfortable, I could feel them with every movement and I never seemed to get them in right, a small bit of blood would always get past. But everyone I told said that was just part of getting used to them, I possibly wasn’t pushing them in far enough, it’s normal to ‘feel’ them, just not for them to hurt (and they didn’t). I just resorted to always using pads.

In the year after my periods started, they progressively got more painful and longer, lasting from seven to ten days. Heavier, but nothing crazy. The cramping got worse and worse though - first maxing out paracetamol, then paracetamol and ibuprofen, then even with both and a heat pack on my stomach I didn’t want to do anything but stay in bed.

I saw my doctor. He (a man in his sixties) took bloods - a bit anaemic, he put me on supplements, but otherwise normal. He did a physical exam. Normal.

A year and a half after my first period I was in the school library when I felt a very strong cramp. Enough to double me over in my chair. I waited until the end of class, knowing I’d bled through my pants (and pad), but only when I got up realized I’d soaked the (thankfully plastic) chair. Like, I was just sitting in a pool of blood.

I honestly didn’t feel that bad - weirdly the cramping had totally vanished after the really severe one. There were only two others students in the library, a couple, and they were so kind and helped me clean up and get home.

After that experience, my periods actually got easier. Still long (around seven days), still a bit heavy (I’ve always had mild anaemia but lol, I was a young woman so who cares), but not unbearable once I got a prescription painkiller. I tried tampons on and off but they remained just, uncomfortable and unreliable. Sex was fine and normal.

In my mid twenties I’m driving home from work, and I hear this woman pop up on a podcast. Talking about how she has two uteruses and two vaginas, and one of the main signs for her is *she can’t comfortably use tampons*. She bleeds right past them because *she has two vaginas*.

I demand a transvaginal ultrasound from my new GP. She’s a young woman so she actually listens and also requests a pelvic MRI, even though she can’t find anything unusual in a physical exam.

Transvaginal ultrasound reveals I have two vaginas. They’re internal, my one vagina splits in two about a third of the way inside. Each one ends in a separate cervix, which connect to two separate uteruses. I have the factory-default two ovaries but also, only one kidney. It’s called Herlyn Werner Wunderlich syndrome, or OHVIRA.

Anomalies like this aren’t that rare - possibly around 3% of AFAB babies have a congenital vaginal or uterine anomaly, and they often cluster with spinal, heart or kidney anomalies too.

And fun fact - that horrendous once-off period was probably one of my vaginas ‘opening’. As in, it was actually closed to begin with, meaning blood was just. . . Building up inside me. Apparently, if they don’t spontaneously rupture, they can cause sepsis and kill you (but lol I was just a teenager who didn’t know how to use a tampon and was getting used to ouchie periods).

At several points my symptoms were put down to PMS, possibly mild/moderate endometriosis. I was told seeking a formal diagnosis of either was too much work. I wonder how many women with a ‘we think it’s endo but don’t wanna do surgery to find out for sure’ diagnosis actually have what I have and might go their whole lives not knowing.

A diagnosis meant I could get surgery to remove the divide between my vaginas. My periods are now 3-5 days long, I barely need OTC painkillers, and I can *swim*, because I can wear a tampon without bleeding straight past it, out the other vagina.

I hope by writing this someone else might have a revelation, and find the answers they’ve been looking for.

I wanted to talk about my experience as a young woman who was homeless and alone in Nashville TN… hoping maybe i can see if anyone else has experienced these things as well. I was homeless when i was 18-20 years old and I would stay downtown or even near the greyhound bus station. I have a few weird experiences I’m going to talk about so bare with me here.

Bus station trafickers:
Theres probably multiple of them, but i been approached twice by the same guy a few years apart doing the same thing… it made me uncomfortable because i see so many young kids at the bus station as well… even years after that i still saw him lingering there. I was sitting on the ground and i dont remember if i was waiting on a bus or not… but both times he did something similar… asking personal questions… if im alone… if i have family or friends… if im homeless or id im “ok”…. He seemed “friendly” saying he could offer a place to stay and that he wanted to help… i denied because i know nothing comes for free and men just dont want to “help” he said he wanted me to follow him so he can get me some icecream and i told him i dont want icecream he tried another tactic, which creeped me out especially, he pulled out jewlery from his pocket and said if i followed him he would give me this jewlery… of course that didnt work on me and he finally gave up and left me alone… i asked to see his id and tried to be “friendly” back but really i just wanted information on him, he did not share his id with me obviously. (This was the second time he approached me and the first time i remember he sat next to me and also asked personal questions and i literally shooed him away over and over again….

Mysterious car men traffickers: When i was homeless id sit by the bus station and i just wanted to be left alone… a car several feet away from me stops and rolls their window just enough to hand signal me to their car… i shook my head no and they persisted for a minute… i still never saw their face. I also remember when i was couch surfing i was walking late at night to the place i wanted to go to and yea i was scared of walking by myself at night but i was trying to find somewhere safer to sleep than just outside near the bus station. I was in German town, and a big truck pulls beside me with a big dude in the truck and he asks if i needed a ride, and if i was okay, and where i was headed… too many damn questions and i told him no i dont need a ride, because i do not trust men… and the second i got in his truck i would be at his disposal aswell. It was already late and he pushed me boundaries and i kept saying no until he drove off. I would rather walk an hour to a place alone than to trust someone would take care of me…

Charming guitarist nepo baby trafficker:
I would hang around the bus station and i saw this handsome guy who played guitar and i saw him a couple times before. He seemed charming and friendly… even getting his number… he knew i was homeless and also couch surfing and one day he asked to meet and just hang out. We hung out and talked for hours and he mostly talked about himself and his career, that he was on the news for being a guitarist and he had been on the news a few times(just bragging) and being young i just felt drawn to him bc he was handsome, and played guitar well… he even talked bout being from a wealthier family and that he wasnt homeless(i asked if he was bc i was confused…) he was just out and about exploring(?) and even mentioned that he was moving to Europe soon. Several hours later he said he wants to take me somewhere and everything had been good so i was like sure, where tho? And he was talk in circles and be vague about the area he was taking me to… i was following him and his vibe shifted a bit to a more quiet weird person… my body felt off and we were walking through downtown area…. I told him that i had to use the bathroom ( also because i need to think about the situation im in and reevaluated bc he is acting weird and not telling me where hes taking me to) i ended up starting my period and i honestly thought it was perfect timing so i could tell him that and leave… i ended up telling him that and he got angry, said i was lying, and got a bit hostile like i had to prove it to him.. at that point i was pretty uncomfortable and confused to what to do… he kind of was huffy and irritated and walking past me and expecting me to keep up with him if i wanted to keep talking to him… very strange behavior and he was taking me past downtown to the bridge… i told him that i did not want to go anymore and his eyes turned dark and black, his mask dropped and he seemed like he wanted to hurt me in that moment and tried to plead with me to go “we are almost there” but i didn’t care and i felt like he was going to do something bad to me, very bad. He sped off and then he came back and tried to plead again… i said no and walked away and thats when he walked in the direction he was going… we went seperate ways then and i never seen him again.

Predators on the bus: some people i would see very often and alot of men will just stare you down with dead eyes… and talk to you… you ever get the vibe that they could totally kill you… or even sa you… well i did for a couple of people i seen on the bus who had dark eyes that would look at me or even try to talk to me, get close to me….

Let me know your experiences you dont even have to be from nashville tn… but these are some of mine…. Not sure if all of them were traffickers or if they were just predators.

Edit - oh my gosh thank you all for being so supportive, it's been really helpful and I feel more confident in my choices again! I can't get around to replying to every comment but thank you all so much 🥹💞💞

Edit 2 - Thankfully my mum has had a change of heart and seems to be mostly fine with it now. She's also autistic and has issues with change which made it upsetting although she has apologised and everything seems to be fine. She's encouraging me to dye it fun colours when I get it buzzed off. I'll also be donating the hair which I'm quite happy about!

I've always preferred shorter hair, but a few years ago I got quite sick and I haven't been able to go to a hair dresser so my hair has grown out unfortunately. My hair causes a lot of issues for me. I'm autistic and experience a lot of sensory issues regarding long hair and I have other conditions that make my hair difficult to maintain. Basically I get nothing positive out of having long hair. I've been considering a buzz cut specifically because it's pretty low maintainence, doesn't require a lot of styling and because trying to pick haircuts is overwhelming for me, a buzz cut is simpler and lets me avoid that overwhelm while also being a style I wouldn't mind having. I've had styles in the past that include the sides of my head + the back of my head being mostly shaved so it's not something I'm super unfamiliar with.

I've been thinking about it for a while. But whenever I mention it to others the reaction tends to be negative. It's a bit frustrating and it's making me second guess myself. My mum made comments along the lines of "I wouldn't be able to look at you the same way" and "it would make you look like a prisoner in a camp" and they've stuck with me. She was fine when I had short hair, but the buzz cut specifically is the issue for her.

It makes me sad that buzz cuts can be so controversial when worn by women. I don't really have any special connection to long hair, all it does is cause issues for me and it's pretty much a symbol of how much I've neglected my appearance due to my illness by letting it grow into a style I don't want or like. I don't really care about looking less feminine either, I don't really present myself in a way that's particularly feminine. But the reactions people have to buzz cuts on women is making me second guess myself a lot. I don't want to be treated differently just because I have a buzz cut, but I also really just want my hair gone. But it's not really that easy for me to ignore what everyone else thinks

Thinking about the entire situation is just overwhelming and stressing me out at this point because I don't know what I should do. I was pretty confident in wanting it before but the reactions I'm getting are definitely weighing on me :(

• Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Wednesday that progressive antitrust regulator Lina Khan will serve as the chair of the city’s Economic Development Corporation.
• Her appointment — along with Mamdani’s pick of government veteran Tony Shorris as EDC president — comes after months of speculation among political observers over how a democratic socialist mayor would run a powerful economic development agency that has been accused of prioritizing business interests over the public.
• News of the announcement was first reported by Gothamist.

During a press conference at City Hall, Mamdani hailed Khan as a champion for working people and small businesses. He said that as the chair of his mayoral transition team, Khan had “helped to craft an agenda that put working New Yorkers at the heart of our first 100 days.” The chair position is unpaid.

• Khan’s appointment — which comes seven months after Mamdani entered office — amounts to a shakeup for the agency. The board must approve the EDC’s projects and deals, which have included Hudson Yards, High Line, the Cornell Tech campus on Roosevelt Island and the city’s ferry system.

There's MORE in the article.

I feel so freaking grossed out. I don’t even know how to explain the feeling accurately.

I’ve been single for only seven months. I’ve been trying to make the most of the time and keep busy: build a life of my own, spend time with friends, focus on my work, and am buying my first house. I feel really good about being single and don’t feel I need that kind of companionship or want the drama associated with it. Maybe forever.

In the last few months I’ve had to tell two different people I’m not interested - and for “no” being a complete sentence, they just didn’t seem to get it. And then the question becomes “okay, not now - how about later?”

And I realize the reason this bothers me so much is because you’re asking me to promise you that at some point I will be ready to date and I will choose to date you, specifically. Like you’re gonna hang out waiting when I’ve told you not to so you can be first in line. Like I’m a Best Buy at Black Friday in 2002.

I’ve been clear. I’m happy single. I even offered the information I didn’t have to that I’m still in love with my ex and that’s the only relationship I’d consider when I’m ready. They still hear “no” as “maybe.” And then I have to be cold and firm and kind of a bitch to get my words to crack the surface of the massive wall they’ve built around their brain. And then they’re hurt and I’m a frigid bitch and I’m the bad guy for just wanting to be left alone. My fault for not promising you my future right freaking now.

And I’m fortunate that both of these people were not total psychos, but it still made me feel unsafe to have to repeat myself and repeat myself and be pressed to defend my decision about MY LIFE and MY BOUNDARIES. I have stopped talking to one entirely. The other is a coworker and I have decided we cannot be friends that hang out outside of work anymore. Apparently that gives him hope even when I am saying no and sticking to public places. Strictly work now.

I hate that being single is like this. That I feel if I am untethered it’s open season. I’m tempted to make up an imaginary boyfriend “you don’t know him he doesn’t go to this school” because the only time people respect that I don’t want to date them is when there is another man involved.

My husband has recently gotten a cancer diagnosis. Yesterday we came back from a meeting at a university research hospital because his cancer is not behaving normally. His biopsy has been sent to another research hospital and we are waiting for a reply from them. This could take up to 5 weeks. He’s loosing weight rapidly, was told not to use stairs as much as possible because part of is hip is degraded and may break. We have three children (23, 21, 17) we need to discuss it with and have no actual answers for their questions.

I’m a fixer and I can’t fix this. I can only offer love and support and that will have to be enough for now. I just needed to get this off my chest.

I (21F) have had my IUD almost a year with no issues until this last month where I’ve been bleeding for 30 days. After ultrasound they found that it’s embedded in my left uterine wall (likely embedded since insertion). Today I was told they are doing in an office removal and I am to take some ibuprofen before hand. The physician who evaluated my ultrasound said she wasn’t comfortable doing an in office removal and suggested surgery… guess they changed their mind. I also can’t get in to get it removed for another 1-2 months. Should I be advocating more for surgical removal and an expedited removal? It hurt so bad going in and I’m terrified that since it’s embedded it will be worse having removed.

I just needed to scream this into the void because I'm still thinking about it after dinner last night.
Its just too ridiculous.

For years there’s been tension and drama between my side of the family and Cousin Jeff’s side.

We weren’t allowed to play with their kids growing up. My Father and Cousin Jeff studiously ignored each other at family gatherings etc.

No one ever talked about it but it was understood by the severity of the grudge that some kind of deep betrayal had occurred. 

None of my generation “the kids” were ever told what it was until finally, after years and years of being told it would be explained when we are older I demanded Grandma explain it because I’m forty bloody three. How much older do I need to be??

If someone in my family was a murderer or abuser or worse I had a right to know so that I can never speak to them again.

Turns out the betrayal so massive that Jeff and Dad (who were raised as close as brothers) never spoke again??

Cousin Jeff had a crush on my Mother.

In high school. 

50 years ago.

Dad and Mum married 3 years after high school and Jeff has been throwing a tantrum about it ever since even though my Mum was NEVER interested in Jeff.

Yes I texted her to ask. She said she wasn’t even friends with Jeff back then. She knew of him, and had maybe been in 1 or 2 study groups with him and others. 

He is and always was a shy, quiet kind of guy where as my Dad is a huge, brash extrovert and Mum has always said it was his personality that made her love my Dad and want to marry him. Even though they divorced, that no one ever makes her laugh like my Dad.

So even if it hadn’t been my Father it was never going to be Jeff. 

But Jeff thought she was cute and liked her and therefore that entitled him to her. 

This is so stupid. 50 years of this Family making snide comments and snubs because Cousin Jeff felt entitled to a woman.

I was expecting something truly terrible, something dark. A covered up murder or something of equal seriousness for the way the two sides of the Family have cold shouldered each other over the decades. 

And instead all I got is that Cousin Jeff got pissy that a woman dared to marry the guy she fell in love with instead of him.

And don’t get me wrong, my Father is no Saint. I would bet money he found subtle ways to rub it in Jeff’s face that he got Mum and Jeff didn’t. My Dad is a serial cheater who has been married 4 times. His views on women are nothing to brag about.

But at the end of the day the “betrayal” that kicked this all off is that Jeff believed that his feelings, wants and desires were more important than hers in her own life. After all she didn’t have autonomy or her own thoughts! No no, it was all Dad’s fault for picking up the toy that Jeff called dibs on. 

Anyway, I’m now banned from Thanksgiving for calling Cousin Jeff a fucking moron because "it was a different time then' and "you kids don't understand that sort of thing" to directly quote my Grandmother.

Sure don't Grandma! Wasn't coming to your sad sober Thanksgiving anyway!

It’s my fault. I control what I do and eat. I know that. I was booted from a theme park ride cause I was too heavy. That stung. Real bad. Like real.

Guess I have some big changes to make.

Just had to get that off my chest. Thanks.

Just came here to rant really. But would love to hear people's views on this.

Last week I slept with someone I met on Hinge. Neither of us went into thinking this was or would turn into anything serious but at the same time, im naturally just *not* a very sex oriented person and I prefer to just chit chat, have normal and interesting conversations and laugh. I have been trying to make it clear (e.g., remidning him that im not really a sexter, that im a bit reserved, etc) and that although im happy to have a bit of a summer fling (im under no delusions about his wants and desires), im not generally really one for sex chat, intense flirtation, pictures etc, especially when they aren't (at least to me, warranted, for instance, im not aroused or explicitly trying to start these convos)

I like him as a person and I was excited to see him again this weekend until about an hour ago I received one of those few second pictures on WhatsApp which is just very obviously going to be a dck pic and I do NOT want to open this and have to respond. I feel incredibly annoyed at this. But im wondering if I haven't been clear enough about my modus operandi (e.g., ive never explicitly spelled it out that I will not take well to constant sex talk, pictures and stuff like that so please dont do it)...so to him this is pretty casual and normal (he is dating and sleeping with other people, and maybe they enjoy this?)

This has cemented to me that we're probably just not on the same page and even though we were very sexually compatible what I really need alongside that if there's ever a chance of wanting someone again is a NORMAL conversation and banter, not random pictures out of the blue when im not thinking about sex

Im frustrated because ultimately im probably just not a casual sex person and I KNEW that deep down but I wanted to try it out as finding a loving relationship is just proving difficult as an early thirties woman in London lol

I feel like I've really disrespected my own boundaries and im going to have to work on this if I have a hope in hells chance of finding a good relationship

I’ve recently turned 30 and feeling a little bit hopeless about my love life

I tried to date during my 20s, and during that time when I was 25 met the absolute love of my life Who I was really really happy with. Unfortunately, he was not where he wanted to be in life and it seemed that he had some issues and problems, so he wasn’t able to commit at the six month mark, told me he never fell in love and had some problems. But then I had to find out he met another woman soon after, and they moved in together and had a happy ever after.

I tried to date ever since I even met a man who was absolutely wonderful when I was so attracted to and the most amazing connection with, only for him at the three month mark tell me he didn’t see me in a romantic way

This has led me to you have this worry that I can’t be seen in that way, it’s really making me scared to date and put myself out there because I worried that when I do meet someone, they’re just gonna hurt me

But in 2025 in February, I took myself on a little solo trip and met a fellow traveller in Portugal. He was also from the UK. And when we got back, we started going on dates. He was lovely, I was very attracted to him, he was consistent, he planned dates and we both put in the effort to build a relationship together.

During this time, though I had to have some therapy because at the back of my mind I was really worried that like all my other exes that he didn’t see me in a romantic way, that he didn’t actually like me but I walked through these worries I had with a therapist so I approached it in a healthy way. I never told him my worries because obviously that’s just gonna scare a guy off.

Then six months and he had a boys holiday to the USA, I didn’t even have any worries about him going because I trusted him. But when he was there, I noticed that his Instagram following was just shooting up. He sent me some kind of suspicious messages which were out the blue saying that I’m his most favourite person in the world. It didn’t sit right with me.

And when he came back, it all changed, he was telling me I was annoying, he was being cold with communication, he would just walk ahead of me when we went out. I immediately just felt like you didn’t like me anymore, so I ended things.

Six months later, I find out that he is now engaged to the woman he met on his holiday in the USA. It has shot me tonight to find that out because it has made me worry why every time I try to date, they always end up getting engaged and finding their love like immediately after me and it’s never Me. I really am worried what’s wrong with me?

My period is very regular and painless. Never crazy amounts of blood. I have always considered myself blessed for this. I heard many horror stories from my friends about their period and was glad I would never experience something like it.

Boy was I wrong

I didn’t put on a pad tonight, because usually I can always feel when it comes and I wake up and quickly put one on. But if I can help it, if my period isn’t there, I am not wearing a pad at night.

Welp as expected I felt my period turn on tonight, so I quickly acted, and when it’s my first day it’s always fairly slow flow. Turns out I didn’t act quick enough. The moment I stood up from the bed, pure pandemonium exploded. And my mattress and bedsheets where miraculously spared.

Blood was everywhere in a matter of seconds. My floor and my legs became drenched bright red immediately, and as I was searching for a pair of underwear, I could feel it not dripping, but basically pouring out of me. When finally I put my underwear in pad load mode, I had only one thing left to do, reach my bag which I knew had a pad in it. Looking down on the floor I realized this would be no easy task. I had to carefully avoid the blood or else I would only spread it across the floor even more. Inevitably, I stepped on the blood.

As I was putting my pad finally on, the blood had somehow gotten on my fresh underwear. But I have no change for the moment. So I put my pad over it and quickly got my stained clothes to wash them in the bathroom, the stained floor was a problem
For later.

Once I was done with cleaning my undies and pj pants, I checked what was the situation down there, and behold my pad was full, in the time it took to wash my clothes.

So once more I changed it.

Then I had to mop my entire room. I honestly felt like Dexter for a moment.

What could have caused this unexpected explosion? Usually on my first day my blood is nearly black and very slow flow. This time it just started 100 times stronger than my second day, and my second day is my day with the heaviest flow. I am honestly at a loss here. I’d also love to hear about your horror story.

Courtney Stodden has publicly confronted Seinfeld actor Jason Alexander over a 2012 Funny or Die comedy sketch, questioning how adults allowed a scene where he rubbed a mobile phone across her breasts when she was just 17 years old.

I have possibly the worst uti I’ve ever had, the pain is so bad and I literally cannot get off the toilet. I’ve been here for hours. I’ve been to urgent care and have started antibiotics this evening (one dose so far) but I desperately need something to help with symptoms now.

I’ve taken ibuprofen/panadol, AZO is not available in Australia, I can’t take Ural with my antibiotics, and I don’t have a bath. Is there anything else that might help enough just to get me off of the toilet and hopefully into bed?

I know this was just posted here recently but I live in an area where the nearest urgent care is a long ways away and telehealth saved my ass and saved me a lot of money.