In May 2019, Twitter user @brownandbella asked women a simple question: what is the dumbest thing a man has ever said to you about sex, reproductive health or menstruation? The post collected more than 19,000 likes and thousands of replies within days, and the answers ranged from the baffling to the genuinely worrying.
Some of the men in these stories were teenagers who simply had never been taught. Others were husbands, fathers and, in a few cases, medical professionals. Read together, the replies are funny, but they also show how many basic facts about periods, pregnancy and women's bodies never reach a large share of men.
Below are 30 of the most memorable replies, grouped by theme. Under each one we explain what is actually true, using reliable medical and scientific sources, so you come away knowing more than the men in these tweets. Nothing here replaces personal medical advice: if anything about your own body worries you, talk to a doctor. After the tweets, we look at a survey suggesting many men cannot say what the pelvic floor is, and at why these myths are so persistent.
The question that started the thread
The original tweet by @brownandbella, posted on 16 May 2019, asked women to reply directly rather than quote-tweet, and promised everyone a shared laugh. The format worked: it turned a private kind of embarrassment into a public collection of examples. Replies continued for several days, which is why some of the posts below are dated 17 and 18 May.
Myths about how often periods happen
Sabrina (@Sabrina45X) remembers her 14-year-old brother asking whether periods also happen on weekends, then offering his sympathy when she said yes. It is an innocent question from a child, and an easy one to answer. Periods follow a hormonal cycle and take no days off; bleeding usually lasts between two and six days, whatever day of the week it falls on.
Kristy (@KristyInCA) says her husband of almost 13 years still reacts with surprise each time her period arrives. A typical menstrual cycle lasts between 21 and 35 days, with 28 days as the median. That means most women have around 12 to 13 periods a year from puberty until menopause, so a monthly period is exactly what to expect.
When @Jamaican_Ivy began explaining tampons to a man, he was shocked to learn that menstruation happens every month, having assumed it was a one-time event. Menstruation is recurring by definition: the word comes from the Latin for "month". The cycle repeats from the first period, usually in early adolescence, until menopause, apart from pauses such as pregnancy.
Regina Griffin (@Regina_Griffin) met a man in his twenties who believed every woman on Earth has her period at the same moment because of the moon. Cycle lengths differ from person to person and from month to month, so there is no global schedule. Some studies have looked for a link between cycles and the lunar month, but the mainstream scientific view is that the two are not connected.
Not every story in the thread is anonymous. User @JennS79 recalled the famous case of astronaut Sally Ride, the first American woman in space. Before her six-day Space Shuttle Challenger mission in June 1983, NASA engineers reportedly suggested packing 100 tampons, a figure that has become a classic example of how little some experts knew about periods.
Blood, timing and the idea of holding it in
Victoria Marini (@LitAgentMarini) dated a 21-year-old who had no idea menstruation involves bleeding and was horrified to find out. A period is the shedding of the lining of the uterus, which leaves the body as blood and tissue. Over a whole period the typical total loss is roughly 30 to 60 milliliters, a few tablespoons, spread across several days.
Allyson M. Holley (@allysonholley) was asked why women do not simply push everything out at once instead of bleeding for a week. The uterine lining breaks down and sheds gradually as hormone levels fall, and the muscles involved are not under voluntary control. The cramps many women feel are those muscles contracting on their own.
When @lupespace told a boyfriend she needed a tampon, he asked whether she could wait until she got home, because he believed periods are released like urine. Menstrual blood comes from the uterus through the vagina, which has no valve or sphincter to hold it back. That is why pads, tampons, cups and period underwear exist at all.
Eydís Blöndal (@eydisblondal) says an ex was furious when her period started overnight and stained his mattress, as if she had wet the bed on purpose. Bladder control is learned in childhood; menstrual flow cannot be learned or controlled in the same way. Leaks during sleep are common, which is why overnight pads and absorbent bedding are sold widely.
Emma (@earzeg) remembers classmates in her final year of high school who thought women could switch periods on and off, and who had never heard of cramps. Bleeding continues through the night, and period pain is very common. Pain severe enough to stop someone from working or studying is not normal, though, and is a good reason to talk to a doctor.
Jill Hopkins (@Jillhopkins) was asked by a man she was dating whether she could move her period so it would not land on his birthday. The relationship, she notes, ended before the birthday arrived. Cycle timing is set by hormones; some hormonal contraceptives can shift or skip a period, but that is a medical decision to make with a doctor, not a favor for a boyfriend.
Eggs, virginity and other anatomy myths
RM Hannigan (@RHanniganWrites) heard from a man who thought women release an egg the size of a Cadbury Mini Egg each month. The human egg is the largest cell in the body, but it is still only about 0.1 millimeters across, roughly the size of the dot on this "i". It is invisible without magnification.
Genève (@bergerbell) shares a classic from a 10th-grade health class: a boy who could not understand how a woman might miss the moment of ovulation, because surely she would feel a draft when the egg dropped out. Ovulation happens inside the body, as the egg passes from the ovary into the fallopian tube. Some women do notice a brief one-sided ache mid-cycle, known as mittelschmerz, but most feel nothing at all.
Escobar (@mariaa_escobar) was once asked whether every period made her sad, because each one meant a baby had died. An egg that is not fertilised is simply a single cell, not an embryo. Most eggs released over a lifetime are never fertilised, and a period is the normal sign that no pregnancy began that cycle.
Mennell (@egyptiancotn) knew a man who was certain a woman's body molds to her partner, so he could detect cheating by touch. This myth has a long history and no basis in anatomy. The vagina is muscular and elastic; it stretches and returns to its resting state and does not take on a lasting shape from any partner.
Dracarys Jones Jr. (@DPMCanty) was told by a man that "clean" women wash inside with soapy water after every trip to the bathroom. The vagina keeps itself clean through natural discharge and a slightly acidic balance of helpful bacteria. Health services generally advise against washing inside or douching, which can upset that balance; anyone with concerns about irritation or odor should talk to a doctor.
Cami (@ThaBrunchMami) says her father banned tampons because he believed they would take her virginity and leave her used to having something inside her. Virginity is a social idea, not a medical condition, and using a tampon has nothing to do with sexual activity. The hymen is a thin, flexible tissue that varies widely between people and is not a reliable sign of anything.
Sansa Hive Member (@My_Beloved_One) describes a man who threatened to lock up his 13-year-old daughter because he thought her developing breasts and hips meant she was having sex. Those changes are puberty, driven by rising hormones, and usually begin between about 8 and 13. Treating normal development as a sign of misbehavior can do real harm to a child's relationship with her own body.
Skinleesi (@CruzanChoklate) heard a man insist that periods are unnatural and only happen because women eat meat. Menstruation occurs in vegetarians and vegans too, and in a handful of other mammals such as some primates. Very low body weight or extreme diets can stop periods, but that is a warning sign for a doctor, not proof of a healthier body.
Pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding
Not all the replies came from women. A father of three (@Bigboysplash) said he had heard a man argue that a woman cannot get pregnant if she is on top, and another claim that women exaggerate the pain of childbirth. Sexual position makes no reliable difference to the chance of pregnancy, and labor pain is real enough that hospitals offer a range of pain relief.
One user (@MyChildAndIHav1) says a partner refused sex during her pregnancy because he feared harming the baby, a worry she clearly found overblown. The baby is protected by the amniotic sac, the fluid around it and the cervix. For most uncomplicated pregnancies sex is considered safe, but anyone with complications should talk to a doctor.
Joan Carol (@psychomama) says her husband thought doctors unplug the umbilical cord after birth and plug it back inside, like an air hose on a tire. In reality the cord is clamped and cut, and the placenta it was attached to is delivered from the uterus shortly after the baby. The small stump left on the baby's belly dries and falls off, leaving the navel.
Rosie Clements (@rosalina1001) was told by an older male relative that her baby was sick because her breast milk had not been pasteurized. Pasteurization is used for animal milk and donor milk banks, not for a mother feeding her own baby. Breast milk passes on antibodies that help protect infants against infections.
The most alarming reply comes from Dr. Njoki Ngumi (@njokingumi), a Kenyan doctor. She describes a male anesthetist who said during a cesarean section that women do not deserve pain relief in childbirth and that women having C-sections were cheating. Pain relief in labor and anesthesia for cesareans are standard medical care, and a clinician's personal beliefs should never decide who receives them.
Pain, doctors and sex
April Ranger (@AprilRanger) says that at 18 her father tried to stop her taking birth control, even though she was using it to manage severe period pain he had seen himself, and told her the pain was punishment for Eve's sin. Hormonal contraception is commonly prescribed to ease painful or heavy periods. Severe pain can also point to conditions such as endometriosis, which is why it deserves a doctor's attention rather than a lecture.
Julia Ferraioli (@juliaferraioli) was told by a gynecologist that intense pain during sex is normal, and changed doctors immediately. Painful intercourse, known as dyspareunia, is common but not something to simply accept. It has many treatable causes, and a dismissive answer is a good reason to seek a second opinion.
User @pjoneswriter was asked whether women enjoy going to the gynecologist because it supposedly feels nice to be touched there. Pelvic exams and cervical screening are medical procedures that many women find uncomfortable or stressful. Comments like this are one reason some people put off screening tests that can catch problems early.
Joyslin (@JoyslinC) bled slightly during sex in college, and her partner accused her of having a sexually transmitted infection and kept messaging her about AIDS for weeks. Light bleeding can have many harmless causes, such as friction or a cervix that bleeds easily, and it is not by itself a sign of infection. Regular STI testing, not guesswork, is how partners find out their status.
Megan Sass (@Megan_Sass) ends our list on a wry note: when she told a man it was polite to ask whether the woman had climaxed, and answered honestly, he blamed it on her emotions. Her reply sums up a theme that runs through the whole thread. When something about a woman's body does not fit a man's expectations, it is often the woman who gets blamed.
What a survey said about men and the pelvic floor
Around the same time, a UK survey commissioned by INNOVO, a company that sells pelvic floor training devices, was widely reported in the British press. According to those reports, almost a quarter of men surveyed said they had no idea what the pelvic floor is or does, about one in 20 thought it was another word for the pelvis, and some guessed it was a dance move. Around four in ten said they did not feel comfortable talking with women about intimate health. We were not able to review the full survey data, so these figures are best treated as indicative; the survey also had a commercial sponsor.
The underlying point is solid, though. The pelvic floor is a sling of muscles across the bottom of the pelvis that supports the bladder, bowel and, in women, the uterus, and helps control urine and bowel movements. Men have one too. Pregnancy, childbirth, ageing and, in men, prostate surgery can all weaken it, contributing to incontinence and other problems. Fitness expert Jane Wake, quoted in coverage of the survey, made the same point: the joke has a serious side, especially because men can have the same problems as women.
Why these myths last, and how to fix them
Most of the men in this thread were not malicious; they were simply never taught. Sex education varies hugely between schools and countries, and lessons about periods are often given to girls separately, leaving boys to fill the gap with rumours and jokes. Embarrassment then stops many adults from asking basic questions.
The fix is not complicated. Teach all children the same basic facts about puberty, periods and pregnancy. Talk openly at home, so a son can ask his mother or sister what a period is without feeling silly. And when a partner says something that is clearly wrong, a calm correction usually works better than mockery. As the replies show, the cost of ignorance is not just awkward moments. It can mean a girl locked indoors, a woman denied pain relief or a patient putting off a check-up.
Sources: Original thread by @brownandbella on Twitter/X (May 2019), with replies from the users credited above; screenshots as compiled by Bored Panda; Wikipedia: Menstrual cycle; Wikipedia: Pelvic floor; Wikipedia: Sally Ride.
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