Mothers are a great source of information for sons who need an understanding of women simply because its easier to ask them anything without fear or shame or embarassment and chances are an honest answer will be forthcoming.
Tonight, i learned from her that women are far stronger than most men will ever give them credit.
A normal woman's body undergoes tremendous strain throughout their lifetime. The act of giving life and birth to a child takes a lot out of a woman, thus is her theory why women age faster than men physically (though its true that on average men life shorter lives). The monthly cycles a woman experiences, menstruation, is another testing time of physical and emotional discomfort that will always be completely foreign to men.
Although the blood loss during menstruation is relatively little (on average, it can be measured in the mililiters), the hormonal changes a woman experiences puts tremendous emotional and phychological strain on her.
It can make her say things she doesn't mean, it can make her think things that she otherwise wouldn't give a second thought to, it can make her act grumpy and in a constant state of irritation, it can lead her to make irrational decisions. It isn't an easy time, and though much study has been given on the subject, it still doesn't make it any easier for women to recognize and compensate for it.
None of this was told to me to give me the impression that women are weak. The spirit of the lesson was to make me understand that women are very different from men for many reasons, the least of which is the design of the female body. Healthy, regular monthly cycles is a boon for a woman because it says that she is ready and able to conceive and give life. As a man, i was told, i should understand, appreciate and provide all the support i can give without concluding in the negative.
Its so easy for men to dismiss it all (and so many have for much too long), and brand women irrational and weak, especially during her period -- but i reckon this perspective ignores the inherent strengths of the female species of homo sapiens. Its a shame, i think, that thousands of years of experience and civilization has yet to fully recognize the proper place of women as equals in every sense of the word.
Women are not weaker because they shed blood or give birth. Perhaps, it may actually be the proof that they are stronger.
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