Don’t let me get in the way of what you think, or what wikipedia and other women have told you. I’m basing basing my comment on the psychology courses I’ve taken.
It’s important to note that research on PMS has been fraught with medical, historical and personal biases. This is a very well done article on why the issue is incredibly nuanced: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK565629/
The other reason this is a sore spot for me is because I am a woman who lived with undiagnosed mental and physical disorders for over ten years because my complaints were disregarded as menstrual symptoms. I was eager to internalize that because of prevalent media that pushes the idea of the hormone-driven, irrational female, without providing the basis for those claims.
As it turns out, being in a whole fuck lot of pain and having doctors tell you that’s normal can make someone pretty irritated.
Sorry, I don’t understand. Were you experiencing severe pain and mental symptoms related to your menstrual cycle? If so, why would you be arguing against the notion that PMS symptoms are real? If anything I would think telling women “nope sorry, your perceived symptoms are all in your head, that is just a patriarchal myth that you’ve internalized” is more condescending than saying that PMS symptoms are real.
I’m gonna be honest I didn’t read that entire chapter but I think I get the gist of it. King posits that PMS is falsely understood to be a primarily mental/mood-related condition due to the underlying sexist belief that women are fundamentally irrational and overly emotional. Sure, no disagreement there. PMS has sort of become a meme and a cultural phenomenon, which may cause women and men both to play up the mood swing side of it. With that said, “The chief complaint is one or more of the emotional symptoms associated with PMS. Irritability, tension, or unhappiness are typical emotional symptoms”. According again to Wikipedia which in my experience is more accurate than any single source or anecdote.
That article has about as many cited sources and studies as any wikipedia page. Well-rounded knowledge includes learning from multiple, different resources.
However “I didn’t read the article but I got the gist,” followed by a completely innacurate paraphrasing tells me this argument is a waste of time for both of us.
Whatever. I was legitimately trying to understand your argument without reading a nearly 5000-word dissertation. Anyways, I just noticed that the summary at the top of your link states
“King argues that population studies suggest that mood-based symptoms are not the most common nor most disruptive of menstrual changes. She then proposes that the trend of ‘psychologizing’ premenstrual symptoms is influenced by the sexist historical assumption of ‘the myth of the irrational female’—the idea that women, due to their reproductive biology, are pathologically emotional and thus have a reduced capacity for reason. The author concludes by calling for a more integrated and rigorous approach to PMS definitions and research to support people who experience cyclical symptoms, without unintentionally pathologizing the menstrual cycle or stigmatizing an entire gender.”
Which feels pretty damn close to my interpretation. Some people would rather be righteously upset about being misunderstood than explain themselves plainly.
Don’t let me get in the way of what you think, or what wikipedia and other women have told you. I’m basing basing my comment on the psychology courses I’ve taken.
It’s important to note that research on PMS has been fraught with medical, historical and personal biases. This is a very well done article on why the issue is incredibly nuanced: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK565629/
The other reason this is a sore spot for me is because I am a woman who lived with undiagnosed mental and physical disorders for over ten years because my complaints were disregarded as menstrual symptoms. I was eager to internalize that because of prevalent media that pushes the idea of the hormone-driven, irrational female, without providing the basis for those claims.
As it turns out, being in a whole fuck lot of pain and having doctors tell you that’s normal can make someone pretty irritated.
Sorry, I don’t understand. Were you experiencing severe pain and mental symptoms related to your menstrual cycle? If so, why would you be arguing against the notion that PMS symptoms are real? If anything I would think telling women “nope sorry, your perceived symptoms are all in your head, that is just a patriarchal myth that you’ve internalized” is more condescending than saying that PMS symptoms are real.
I feel like you need to read my comment and the link provided again.
I’m gonna be honest I didn’t read that entire chapter but I think I get the gist of it. King posits that PMS is falsely understood to be a primarily mental/mood-related condition due to the underlying sexist belief that women are fundamentally irrational and overly emotional. Sure, no disagreement there. PMS has sort of become a meme and a cultural phenomenon, which may cause women and men both to play up the mood swing side of it. With that said, “The chief complaint is one or more of the emotional symptoms associated with PMS. Irritability, tension, or unhappiness are typical emotional symptoms”. According again to Wikipedia which in my experience is more accurate than any single source or anecdote.
That article has about as many cited sources and studies as any wikipedia page. Well-rounded knowledge includes learning from multiple, different resources.
However “I didn’t read the article but I got the gist,” followed by a completely innacurate paraphrasing tells me this argument is a waste of time for both of us.
I won’t be replying again.
Whatever. I was legitimately trying to understand your argument without reading a nearly 5000-word dissertation. Anyways, I just noticed that the summary at the top of your link states
“King argues that population studies suggest that mood-based symptoms are not the most common nor most disruptive of menstrual changes. She then proposes that the trend of ‘psychologizing’ premenstrual symptoms is influenced by the sexist historical assumption of ‘the myth of the irrational female’—the idea that women, due to their reproductive biology, are pathologically emotional and thus have a reduced capacity for reason. The author concludes by calling for a more integrated and rigorous approach to PMS definitions and research to support people who experience cyclical symptoms, without unintentionally pathologizing the menstrual cycle or stigmatizing an entire gender.”
Which feels pretty damn close to my interpretation. Some people would rather be righteously upset about being misunderstood than explain themselves plainly.