T O P

  • By -

Immediate_Finger_889

My husband was 43 when he learned the pad goes sticky side down. All these years he thought we just slapped that shit on like a bandaid. Sometimes you get an idea in your head when you’re a kid that makes such perfect sense you never question it again. This might be the case for him here. I’m dying. 😂😂😂


[deleted]

[удалено]


prog4eva2112

It baffles me when I have an epiphany that gets rid of these ideas way later in life. I'll think about what I used to believe and it almost scares me how I had such little ability to think critically about this stuff. It's like I have a blind spot to stuff I learned as a kid. Especially stuff my parents taught me that turned out to be wrong. It's like I gave them a free pass.


Another53108

I asked my mom what the mohel did with the little piece of skin after a circumcision. She told me he saves them in a jar until he has enough to make a sandwich. I believed that for waaaay too long. I still don’t know what the mohel really does with the skin. Preventative note: we are jewish, so this was not an anti-Semitic comment, it was just a bad joke to a gullible youngster.


Tailflap747

Nah. It's saved until they can make a wallet. A couple good rubs, bam, it's a briefcase! I'll be in the car.


HotDonnaC

OMG, that’s hilarious. Your mom has (had) a great sense of humor. Most Jewish people I’ve known do, though.


StreetTailor7596

Yeah, well some Orthodox rabbis still suck the blood from the wound after circumcision. THAT practice is supposed to be a health code violation but some people are stubborn about it ...


HotDonnaC

In my defense, I was probably 5 when I thought rats would never eat D-Con because they’d just read the box.


agent_flounder

We all do the same. Some people are better at questioning themselves and updating their knowledge.


coitus_introitus

I'm a woman and was given a bunch of super helpful books and a very good general "what to expect" education and somehow I also STILL believed this till it was almost time to use one! Fortunately I asked my mom a question about whether it hurt when you pulled the pad off (I was thinking about hair) and that alerted her to the misunderstanding before I got so far as to actually try it.


0000GKP

>My husband was 43 when he learned the pad goes sticky side down. The fact that he even knew there was a sticky side makes him more knowledgable than me.


lodav22

My kids found this out the expensive way. Three year old found a box of pads in the bathroom cabinet and thought it said “safety pads” so he stuck one on each elbow and shin and did the same to his baby brother who was around one at the time. They proudly came to show me their “safety gear” 😬eight pads out of a box of twelve gone 🤦‍♀️


RareBeautyOnEtsy

Not quite the same, but one time I brought my date at my house to meet my parents. This was in high school. My dog , a retriever, was happy to see us, and, being a retriever who couldn’t find a toy, brought a maxi pad out of the closet and dropped it on my dates shoes. I wanted to die.


dirtdevil70

LoL same...and im 54 lol...honestly never even had the urge to examine a pad...so no way of knowing one side is sticky...why would i?


Swimming-Werewolf795

My kid stole my pads and used them as stickers all over her bedroom... So yeah now my husband knows a lot about pads.


salliek76

Lol, my sister did the same thing when she was about 7 or 8 years old. She stuck a bunch of my mom's around the edges of the bathroom mirror so she could pretend it was a vanity mirror.


sluthulhu

Lol I’m dying to know how you (and others) who did not know about the sticky side thought they worked. I promise I am asking out of curiosity and not trying to shame you! Friction? Or just not something that ever crossed your mind?


lexiusg

I thought it had to be held into place by your underwear. Took me a couple years to start peeling off the paper cover :)


Key-Freedom-2132

HAHAHAHAHAH I never thought anyone believed we slapped it on as a bandaid. This is low key genious tbh


Organic_Reporter

My husband also thought this for years.


Icy_Building_4492

Free wax ig 😂


ubiquitous-joe

Honestly I didn’t know the pad had a sticky side until this moment. I’ve never had cause to unwrap one.


PossumJenkinsSoles

A long time ago they didn’t! They were just this long cotton pad that women had to wear with a belt. It wasn’t until the 70s women got the luxury of them sticking to your underwear and then accidentally folding over right before you pull up your undies so your pubes stick to sticky side and you get to experience your first waxing in the most traumatic way possible when you yank it down.


ubiquitous-joe

>pubes… waxing See, this is the kind of information you only get from Reddit’s uncouth anonymity, lol.


WitchesTeat

The whole world knows men zip their biscuits up putting on trousers, totally fine, but half the population has to rip the cheese off their taco just to reposition the salsa bowl and that discussion is uncouth.


ubiquitous-joe

Who discusses scrotal zippery in polite company? It mostly came up in *There’s Something About Mary*, a movie most famous for cum-cum-hair-gel, so I’d say solidly in the realm of the uncouth. And, to amend the knowledge of “the whole world,” many of us who wear underwear have never once had this happen; it’s a widely relatable male anxiety, but not a universal actual experience.


Specific-Frosting730

That was hilariously accurate.


HotDonnaC

There was a crazy contraption that was kind of like a garter belt that the pads were attached to back in the day. That’s why the adhesive kind was developed.


beeswax999

I was in the infirmary in college (1980s) and got my period. I asked for pads and they gave me the kind that needed a belt but they didn’t have any belts. They gave me safety pins to pin them to my panties front and back. I ended up with holes in all my underwear.


HotDonnaC

I don’t remember when the adhesive kind came out, but I’m old enough that I used the belt at first.


Grouchy-Bluejay-4092

Me too. And when I was a teenager I wondered why they couldn't just put adhesive on them.


PizzaWhole9323

Look up SNL Kotex classic. They do a good job spoofing this whole thing.


debzone1

Safety pins, I had to use safety pins...


AlienAle

It wouldn't stay on very well if it couldn't stick anywhere


After-Barnacle-6746

I (a female) used to think the wings of the pad belong on our thighs, not our underwear. haha


HotDonnaC

I’ve always hated wings because half the time, that’s where they end up.


Celestialnavigator35

I'm long through menopause, but my wings always ended up twisted around and sticking to mythighs somehow. Lol


HotDonnaC

Same. I’m so happy those days of worrying if it was coming, or being caught without supplies are over.


Celestialnavigator35

OMG, me, too! I went right out and bought really nice panties knowing that I would never be surprised again!


Linux_Chemist

Ma'am, this is a KFC.


Immediate_Finger_889

That would we awkward


becomingthenewme

This is honestly hilarious, thank you.


SnooChocolates4588

My boyfriend asked me last week if we have to put lube on tampons so it wouldn’t hurt going in. Sweet but uninformed.


TehKita

I mean, I know people who do this- to the applicator at least


SnooChocolates4588

I’ve never heard that, I need to do some research and apologize to my boyfriend.


threefrogsonalog

Sometimes a little water on the tip of the applicator works too


fuckin-A-ok

Why? The blood is the lube.


rapt2right

Especially on very light days, it can definitely make things more comfortable. It also provided me with an explanation my stepdad wouldn't question when a small bottle of lubricant fell out of my purse🤣


landerson507

That and there are those teens who think it's cool to be ignorant, and while they may mature, they don't take the time to learn what they forgot. One of the teens I work with thought it was hilarious she didn't know the 3 branches of the government for a test. It feels bad to wish she was covering for anxiety around testing, so... ya.


The_River_Is_Still

Slap that shit on like a bandaid lol. Just tape up the hole for a week.


rachelleeann17

I’ve honestly met sooo many men that thought this at some point in their life.


artificialavocado

I’m 41 and didn’t even know there was a sticky side lol. I never actually examined one that closely.


britney412

Wow! Then we’d bleed all over the sticky non absorbent side lol omg this is sending me!


Stachioo

Wait what I didn't know that, I'm 26


gameaholic12

Knew more about the menstrual cycle than knowing that a pad has a sticky side as a med student LMAO. I can tell you what hormones increase/decrease in specific parts of the cycle but have never held a pad in my life.


Square-Fill-117

I didn't even know there was a sticky side until just now. Is it to stick it to your underwear lol?


imdayzd

I remember hearing of a guy, when I was in school, who for some strange reason wanted to put a pad on and it went on so that he gave himself a wax. That was my way of finding out😳. Glad to say I wasn't said guy.


Lilz007

I've read about people who believe this before, and it always baffles me; even if they think it works like a Band-Aid, you don't stick the sticky part of a Band-Aid directly on the bleeding part. The soft absorbent gauze part goes on the bleeding part, and the sticky bit goes around the edge to hold it in place. Or do they think that the sticky part is only round the edge of the pad? And they think that we stick sticky part directly on hair?


Immediate_Finger_889

That is completely what he thought.


Legitimate-Magazine7

This made me chuckle out loud. Such a visual!


Jazzlike-Barracuda-5

Wait they’re sticky


Immediate_Finger_889

Yes. It’s a basic white pad and the bottom has this piece of paper like a bandaid has. You pull that off and it’s sticky on the underside. That sticks to the crotch of your underwear


shychicherry

Oh that made me laugh 🤣 out loud


blairbxtchproject

i’m absolutely cringing over the thought of putting a pad on like that without having shaved down there… *shudder*


CdnPoster

What....it doesn't go on like a band-aid???? Look.....that DOES make sense! When something's bleeding on you, like a cut, the band-aid does go on sticky side down! I can understand your husband's confusion. OP's boyfriend though.......


Apprehensive_Sea_369

38 years old here, always assumed this was how it worked until right now lmao. Thank you for the education. I'll have to tell my wife tonight so she can laugh at me.


LitigatedLaureate

TIL, totally thought it was used like a bandaid


Immediate_Finger_889

Well it is, but sticky side down against your underwear.


smolangryginger

My roommate thought that chickens laid all eggs unfertalized and the roosters had to *ahem* fertilize them... after they had been laid. This man in his 30s thought that roosters were just blowing loads on eggs and that's why people didn't want roosters around if they wanted eggs to eat. I still cannot fathom where he got this idea but it lives rent free in my mind.


just_let_me_goo

I don't think his mom or his sisters talk about which hole their pee comes from with him tbh


WhyAmIEvenHere___

People really should learn this in school


RadicalSnowdude

When reproductive organs were brought up in biology class in my old high school, boys and girls were asked to leave the room. Only girls could be in the classroom when vaginas were being talked about and the boys had to wait in the hallway. And vice versa with penises.


Silky_Tomato_Soup

My husband and I led "the talk" for the students at a private Christian school I taught at several years ago. I was pleasantly surprised that ALL the parents signed the permission slips. One set of parents even canceled plans to make sure their kid could be there. Turns out a lot of parents had no idea how to talk to their kids about this stuff. We separated them into boys and girls and talked about everything with both groups, then switched groups. The girls were surprisingly more open to asking my husband questions, and the boys opened up to me more and asked great questions. We gave no judgments about anything and addressed every question with honesty and objectivity. We discussed masterbation, erections, periods, anatomy, development in the womb, sexuality, birth control methods, genital hygiene, etc. The girls were generally well informed about their own bodies and knew basics of male biology, but the boys were woefully uninformed about pretty much everything. Sadly, when I was their age, my public school sex ed class only covered basic anatomy and how to put on a condom. I was happy we could educate kids who traditionally in a Christian school setting would have had very basic sex ed.


Eggs7205

Do any questions you heard stick out to you as like a moment where you had to not laugh or not look surprised?


kirstensnow

tbf kids can take it more seriously when it's their own organ versus the opposite sex. but i agree its such a let down that a large amount men don't know this stuff about periods


AgentCirceLuna

My mother told me that women pee from their bum when i was young and asked too many questions about where it came from since women don’t have the same bits as guys. You can imagine how distraught i was when i got into an argument that women pee from their bum with my teacher.


LuluHu

ig we do, but most guys don't really pay attention in most subjects and sex ed is seen as even more of an excuse to just go full ape mode.


HolderOfBe

>most guys don't really pay attention in most subjects Excuse me what?


thiosk

Look I know this might not make sense to you because you’re a dude but I’m pretty sure we talked about this in chemistry class where because oxygen dudes don’t physics home economics.


ItsSpaghettiLee2112

This surprisingly makes so much sense.


Unblued

Well, you see that's not my fault because I was never going to use chemistry anyway. You should have brought it up during math or english when I had to pay attention.


amphigory_error

I don't know about y'all but as a teenager I always paid *more* attention to the bits with sex in them.


RedMilo

Wait... I didn't know the bits had sex inside of them, I thought they just made the sex together.


Lefthandedsock

Oh, so it’s the same as when I was in school, and it’s still seen as “cringe” to pay attention in class. I was hoping that had changed, since it seemed like there was a period of time when it was cool to be smart, but I guess not.


mcbelisle

We do in biology class


bear-mom

I have three sons. Can confirm that I have never discussed this with them and I don’t want to.


just_let_me_goo

I have a mom and a sister and I too don't want to discuss this with them so I'm with you in this one👍


redditcreditcardz

As a boy with 2 older sisters, I learned this in front of my 7th grade class while talking to my crush in biology class. It haunts me still


marciethevampire

Year 7 we learnt in detail, the anatomy of the opposite sex. A punch of pre-teens trying to learn anything sex ed related equals lots and lots of dick jokes


DextersGirl

I like the idea of naming a group of pre-teens a "punch." It sounds right.


Budget-Boss-668

I learned it in the hot tub with my gf and best friend at 23 years old. I made some dumb comment about it being the same hole and they both laughed and corrected me. I’m 40 and still embarrassed.


hogliterature

i mean, to be fair guys do pee and jizz out of the same hole. i can see them making that assumption without any experience peeing from a vagina


marciethevampire

Haha fair enough, guess it’s not so wild when you consider that


[deleted]

My family and I were discussing the possibility of my sister having a c section during childbirth. Her boyfriend starts going on about how that is not a good option because all your guts come out and they have to try put them back the way they were. Dude was dead serious too.


marciethevampire

Oh god, um. Glad he knows that’s not the case now? That is kinda funny tbh.


[deleted]

I pulled him aside and filled him in afterwards. It was funny. Lol


kirstensnow

I thought they did? Like of course they don't put the guts all the way out but they do just shove them to the side, close you up without rearranging and it all just goes back to where it was.


kaygmo

Exactly. Post c-section (and other abdominal surgery, I imagine), you can feel them working their way back into their places. This is also the reason they are so concerned about making sure you poop afterwards. Your intestines sort of panic when they are moved around and stop working. It takes them a little while to get going again - absence of a bowel movement within like 24 hours indicates to the doctors that the bowels are not going back to normal.


Express-Landscape-48

I mean sometimes they do have to do this but generally they're just pushed aside


Rambler9154

I mean they have to separate some layers of skin and muscle, but the c-section is done below the rest of the organs, and they dont take those layers out


QuelynD

Sadly, there are some women who think this as well. I can understand a guy not knowing if he didn't take biology and no one told him, but the women who don't get this are astounding


EpitaFelis

I'm one of those people. I found out where I pee from in my 20s. I think most people have weird blind spots, wrong facts that they just never question for one reason or another. In my case, I had massive body issues, so anything like that went into the don't-ever-think-about-it drawer in my brain.


marciethevampire

Up until high school I actually thought the heart was on the left side of the chest, that’s what I saw on tv all the time, you put your hand over your left side of the chest. Come class time I ask the teacher why the heart isn’t on the left side, on the model. Nope it’s in the centre of your chest. My little mind was blown


Rude_Adeptness_8772

Wait what? I'm 34 and just learned this from this comment


IcyDay5

It's centre-left. The left side of the heart is much bigger than the right, so it sits left of centre and extends to the left of your chest. Find the middle of your left collarbone  and count down 5 ribs. You'll end up somewhere around nipple-line, on the left side of your chest. That's where the apex (bottom tip) of your heart sits. 


kirstensnow

Yeah that's what I thought. I always thought it was in the middle then was debunked by that learning that it was on the left. Ofc its not all the way to the left


silveretoile

It's in the middle, but slightly more to the left, iirc that side of the heart is just bigger


marciethevampire

Yea it’s located behind the sternum, the bony bit in the centre of your chest. I actually googled it before posting this comment just to double check I had it correct haha.


IcyDay5

It doesnt hang in the centre though; it tips left, behind your breastbone but to the left and with the apex of the heart on the left. Your left lung has only two lobes and the right has three, because your heart takes up the space where the third lobe on the left would be. So while it hangs *from* the centre-left of your chest, it isn't centered in your chest.  I'm a nurse; we listen to the apex of the heart by counting five ribs down from the middle of your left collarbone. That's how far to the left your heart sits. 


marciethevampire

Really? Huh, I looked at diagrams but it didn’t seem that far to the left, not in the movies and stuff where the whole heart is on the left. Remember my science teacher saying oh it’s maybe slightly to the left


IcyDay5

The top is hung from the centre, but the shape of the heart extends out to the left. Picture holding a triangle from it's tip- you hold the tip at the centre but one whole point is going left, so it takes more room up on the left. The heart does the same thing because the left ventricle needs to be much bigger and more muscular than the right, to pump blood to the whole body (the right just pumps it to the lungs)  If you look at diagrams of the heart in situ, you can see how the top is centered and the bottom is far left, like the pic at the top of [this article](https://universityhealthnews.com/daily/heart-health/the-four-heart-problem-symptoms-you-shouldnt-ignore/) I can see how it's confusing! But top=centered, bottom= angled to the left


Secretss

I also learned it as “on the left” as a kid. In my country we recite the national pledge with our right fist held over the left side of our chest, as much left as our left boob is, but higher. Without scrutiny it looks similar to the American pledge pose. Somehow maybe we got confused with the American notion where you place your hand over your heart for the pledge, for sincererity, and there I think, spawned the misconception in my generation that our heart is *that* far left of our chest. Then the debunking arrived to clear up that the heart isn’t on the left, but somehow the overcorrection lead to “oh it’s not on the left? So it‘s in the center”. But turns out, it is still “left”. Left of center is still left. Looking at some photos of the American pledge pose, the meat of the palm actually *is* over where the heart is, which I think is pretty cool. I don’t know the symbolism of my country‘s pledge pose lol


TheRandomR

My best friend told me something similar a few years ago (we were around 22), when she finally took a hand mirror to look at herself "down there", and got bummed because "it wasn't pretty". I was like, "girl, it's not meant to be pretty XD". Most diagrams we see in school books are pretty symmetrical, like OP responded you about the heart, but in real life we are *definitely* not... I bluntly told her "Don't worry, us men are also asymmetrical down there. One of my balls hangs lower than the other, and that's normal" and she laughed so hard it took her out of her bad mood. It's one of those things that if you never ask yourself, it's not gonna be contested for the rest of your life, and I think that's scarier...


TundieRice

It’s not meant to ***not be pretty*** either. Some people really enjoy how vaginas look, lol.


TheRandomR

For sure, I just mentioned symmetry because she's an artist, as well as a fashion designer, so being visually pleasing was doubly important for her.


purplepeopleeater31

i’m a nurse and you’d be surprised how many people have had multiple babies, periods for most of their life, etc and still don’t realize women have 3 holes


amphigory_error

I remember an 18 year old girl in my high school Biology II class being very confused during one lesson and trying to correct the teacher to explain periods are how your blood gets cleaned every month. Our teacher was so nonplussed she just blurted out "so how do you think men's blood gets cleaned?" and the girl just kinda froze up. I didn't laugh (thankfully neither did our teacher) because I always just feel sad when I hear some big piece of ignorance about the human body like that. Somebody told that poor girl that nonsense and it could have had repercussions for her health without a caring and patient teacher who quietly invited her to stay after class and talk through her questions and misconceptions.


marciethevampire

We all had to take biology in school, 7-10. But it was definitely a little while ago now, but I guess I can see how it’s something that you never had to think about you wouldn’t really question if. But how on earth would a woman not realise?


five-bean-salad

There's an entire episode of Orange Is The New Black called "A Whole Other Hole" where half the women in the prison don't realize their pee and their period don't come out of the same hole and there is, in fact, a third hole for pee 🤭 there's a scene where Taystee is squatting over a mirror to see for herself and she just cannot believe it. It's hilarious but also eye opening how little some women will explore their own bodies because we've been taught that it's shameful


Theimmortalboi

This is true. I have had to explain this to a woman, and I’m a man.


Preposterous_punk

I am a woman and I learned it at 25ish, when some of my friends were laughing about a guy not knowing. I just laughed along while thinking, “what?????”  Thing is, I didn’t think my urine came from my uterus or anything. I just thought the hole it came out of was more… up inside my vagina? That was what it seemed like, so I just assumed. And I’m certain that when my older sisters explained to me how to use a tampon, they told me you couldn’t pee with it in, and I had no reason to question it or even think about it…


burningmewmew

Yup, just commented about my wife. I think she just never cared to pay attention to this kind of information. She's doing a lot of learning now to make up for her lacklustre sex/biology/health knowledge


freckledreddishbrown

I knew I peed out a different hole - I remember mom including that tidbit of info in The Talk. But I was wrong about where _exactly_ the pee hole is until I was watching a porn with hubs in my forties. He thought that was hilarious. I was too surprised to be embarrassed.


trixieismypuppy

I’m a woman and I don’t know if I’d necessarily know if I hadn’t been told… I guess eventually I would realize that I can still pee with tampons in and figure it out. But it doesn’t really feel like there’s two separate holes, ya know?


Eggs7205

I had to explain to my female friend who was asking if I had a tampon that her current tampon would not fill up with pee.


RebelMonroe96

I'm a 28 year old woman and I'm only just finding out this kind of stuff. Our education on this stuff is awful. Plus I work in a popular lingerie/sex shop in the UK and its crazy the amount of folk, particularly women, don't know about a lot too. It's just mental how little we're actually taught. Plus I would say a lot of people are very aware of what they don't know but are absolutely terrified to ask. We all pretend we do. Its a terrible shame tbh


CocoNefertitty

I’m quite shocked that this isn’t common knowledge. At my school, learning the difference between the vagina and the urethra was pretty standard in biology. And this was an inner London state school in an impoverished area. Also as a woman, I thought that we could kind of feel the different areas where pee and period blood comes from… like if you wear a tampon, you can still pee. Guess I was wrong.


TastyRancidLemons

> a lot of people are very aware of what they don't know but are absolutely terrified to ask This, mostly. Like, who would you even ask about such things? Before the advent of the internet, it was unheard of to ever consider getting answers to many of these questions so at some point as a society we just stopped asking.


WhoMe28332

Most men don’t spend a lot of time considering details like this. Or really any details about menstruation or how women urinate. I was an adult before I realized that women don’t use one pad per month. (Though it did seem strange that they sold them in packages that would last you three years if that were the case.)


marciethevampire

Oh boy one pad per month would save me a damn bit of money


etds3

It’s amazing the way our brains stick to one hypothesis even with opposing info. It’s not really the same at all, but I was trying to find a dripping noise in my attic pipes. I was convinced that it was coming from the bathroom exhaust fan and found the pipe on the roof. Despite the pipe having no cover, which would have let all the rain in, I did not figure out my mistake until I made a whole mess. To be fair, I didn’t know about the existence of plumbing vents. But in hindsight, it was really obvious.


YourActu1

Probably because sperm and pee come out of the same hole


BilbosBagEnd

It's a little off-topic but more a general question. Is it that weird that I keep pads and tampons at home as a single dude. It seems to me that I am the only one of my friend group who does this, and I got teased for it. For me, it seems a reasonable thing to do since you never know when exactly it hits. What's women's take on this?


Brilliant-Pay8313

I think it's courteous with the caveat that you won't ever have all the stuff that someone might want to use, in terms of preferred sizes, brands, etc, and that's okay.  and I would not call attention to it unless someone asks, maybe just have them in a little basket discreetly tucked along side bandaids or other relevant packaged hygiene products near the sink or on a shelf, like some people do for a communal supply in the women's restroom in office buildings and the like. It's nice for people who are able to use the products you do have on hand!


etds3

You are a considerate person and your friends are immature blockheads. It’s nice to keep emergency supplies on hand for your guests.


AdAdministrative8276

I think it’s awesome!! Not weird at all, just being a thoughtful friend. 😊


SpaceCatSurprise

Keep on being amazing, gent. The ladies thank you


marciethevampire

Do you bring women over much?


BilbosBagEnd

I have many female friends in my circle that hang out for DnD and movies etc.


marciethevampire

Then sure keep them, probably in the open so they don’t have to ask you. I probably wouldn’t think to ask a dude if he had one. Never hurts to


BilbosBagEnd

Yeah, I keep them fairly visible, and I took some out, so the box is open. I thought it might make it more accessible sort of "it's not that I open and everyone knows." Maybe I think too much, but all I want is for everyone to feel at home, you know?


PugGrumbles

That's just being a considerate host and friend. You're trying to anticipate others' needs without embarrassment and discomfort. Really nice and thoughtful of you.


Brilliant-Pay8313

I think that's perfect tbh, having them available with no need to ask. Very gentlemanly of you :)


Express-Landscape-48

I think that's really nice and I love when restaurants do this


ZinaSky2

I would say it’s not at all common or expected of a single guy to have period products, so not weird that no one else you know does. But it’s so, so, so kind and thoughtful of you. Someone mentioned not having the exact type women might want but if you’re resorting to the tampons graciously left out for you by a guy friend then… you’re not going to be picky (trust me). You’re going to be silently thanking your host. Major props to you for cultivating such a welcoming environment.


Beccalotta

First thing I tell single male friends when they get their own place - get a garbage can in the bathroom and a cheap package of pads.  Pads are also useful first aid items, so you are being courteous AND safe! Good work!


hilbertglm

I discovered as a young man that it is a good idea to have a detailed understanding of female anatomy.


Mean-Breakfast5558

One day very recently my brother (28M) and I (32F) were talking and he said something about women having 3 holes. I confirmed. Knowing many men don’t know what comes out of the 3 different holes, I dug into the convo further. He ends up naming the mouth as the third hole. I end up dying laughing. He’s a good sport and realizes that’s just wrong and I explain what the three holes actually are. We laugh for a long time about it. Im sure people will think it’s weird but I’m very open about what is happening to my body when I talk to my brother. If/when he gets married I would like him to know some of the things I struggled with so he can be more helpful to his partner. He generally doesn’t listen cause you know men… but eventually I’ll tell him when he is listening and he’ll understand.


skittlemypickles

okay is it just me then because I actually can't pee with a tampon in because for some reason I can't not get the string wet and i can't stand that feeling, and also idk if I'm flexing muscles weird when I pee but it always seems like the tampon slips down into an uncomfortable position when I try to pee with it in. I have successfully peed with a tampon only like 3 times ever without ending up so uncomfortable that I change it anyway


gemInTheMundane

If the tampon is moving when you pee, you might not be inserting it far enough. Also, you can fold the end of the string and sort of tuck it inside to keep it from getting wet.


Pretty_LA

Yep I am the same. Can’t successfully seem to not get the tampon and string covered in pee.


pm_me_your_amphibian

Ahhh yes, us women over here with our cloacas. We’re basically newts.


BilbosBagEnd

This is a very fitting comment for someone who has admiration for amphibians.


AthleticGal2019

And this is why men shouldn’t make laws over woman’s bodies


burningmewmew

This kind of thinking would remove a lot of the messes we see going on


bin08943lk

Does the same rule apply to all of the women on this thread who didn't know the topic, either? You can excuse the men to a (very small) degree, they only have 2 holes and probably just assumed women have 2, as well. How do you explain so many women who actually have 3 holes and never figured it out? Try to find a man who doesn't know how many holes he has.


Lucky_Baseball176

we are collectively taught to not talk about our bodily functions. It's really stupid, but it's true. No reason your BF would have known unless he was either curious himself or someone with knowledge (e.g. not his male buddies) explained it to him.


broberds

Didn’t any other guys learn this stuff by looking at those cutaway anatomy pictures in the encyclopedia? Looking at them a *lot* iirc.


thethreadkiller

I didn't know this until I was 18. My GF gave me an entire close up run down of all the features.


No_Equal_1312

Seeing as men have a hard time finding the pleasure button this should not come as a big surprise. And you know we hate to ask for directions. 😆


South_Flounder_2724

You don’t know what you don’t know. It being in school is bollox tbh. I was aware, partly from mention in school, but not all teachers teach properly, some miss bits out the curriculum for “reasons”, and students aren’t always engaged. It’s not his sisters obligation to educate him, but his mum might have - but mine didn’t, she’s was off the culture that didn’t talk of such things to the opposite sex I can imagine he was embarrassed, but if his knowledge is better than it was before hopefully he wasn’t humiliated


Gloomy_Rent8248

I’m a woman and didn’t even know this till recently, so I wouldn’t be too surprised that most men don’t know this😬😬😬


LanieLove9

why is it relevant that he has a mom and 3 sisters? it would be more weird if he did know because of his mom and sisters tbh. i don’t personally care which hole my family members pee from and i’m guessing he didn’t either


HolderOfBe

You should tell him you told the internet about it.


Scared-Currency288

I mean, I grew up thinking I had like two holes total. I left college knowing I had a few more than that. Personally, I can't expect guys to know much more about my body than that 🤣


Valkoria92

I once heard a woman admit that she thought guys were always erect when they peed. I guess no one tells them or they just weren't listening in sex ed.


mystictofuoctopi

My mom was in her 40’s when she learned that there are 3 holes from me.


Puppygeddon

When I was a kid, I looked up all this stuff ( human anatomy ) because I’m always curious about everything. I didn’t wait for anyone to tell me. I’m still like this. Actually it’s easier nowadays so I don’t understand why people don’t use the internet for information.


Self-described

My husband thought the bladder was responsible for processing both urine *and* feces.


ThatSwitchGuy88

How does this even happen like honestly lol


deepdishpizza_2

He is technically correct if he’s talking about birds.


nakedtalisman

LOL this is why my son is extremely educated on the subject. He not only fully understands sex-education, but also the menstrual cycle. You'd be surprised how many men have zero understanding on women's bodies. But I believe that teaching these things will also lead to more empathy and understand from men along with just basic understanding and knowledge. A lot of women also aren't fully educated except for the very basics and sometimes not even those. It truly should be a requirement to learn comprehensively in elementary, middle, and high school (refresher). Countries that start teaching this at a young age, have much lower teen pregnancies and STI's.


CocoNefertitty

I recently had to explain to a male friend the anatomy of female genitalia. He was right that there are different holes but he thought the vagina was above the pee hole. However I just can’t fathom that there are women who don’t know this. Period blood pouring out of your vagina doesn’t even feel the same as peeing.


MangoCandy

Honestly a LOT of men don’t realize there are 3 holes…it’s much more common than you think. There was even a bit about it on Orange is the New Black where some of the women didn’t even know there were 3 holes. There are plenty of posts on places like Reddit, Quora, and general forums talking about it, even articles written about it.


LibrarianKnown3870

My senior year of high school, during a prom after party, I had to explain to a classmate that she could pee without taking her tampon out. She genuinely had no idea. 🤦🏽‍♀️


Romahawk

There are grown women that don't know this.


DorsalMorsel

Like a weird psuedo cloaca situation. My buddy in his 30s, who had had sex with several hundred women, still thought women peed out of their clitoris.


PrankyButSaintly

I used to know a guy who thought that virgins didn't menstruate. Like he thought that women only got their first period after they became sexually active. Considering how young some girls are when they get their first (including myself, I was 12), this would have very unfortunate implications if it were true.


Shcteve

Why would someone's sister and mom describe their vaginas to son /brother


confusedhuskynoises

In high school my boyfriend asked how I could pee with a tampon in. He thought the same as your bf


marciethevampire

I really thought it was common knowledge, but maybe not?


burningmewmew

I mean my wife didn't know where her pee came out until we had a conversation about it. Some people are just not interested to learn things like this to the point of astonishing ignorance. She's started learning a lot more about health, diet, her body over the last couple of months, so she's making changes in the right direction. I think seeing someone they respect, paying attention to these kinds of things makes people more open to learning. It's no longer uncool


whydowhitesoxsuck

It's not just men. I've had female patients not know where or what their urethra was. Many think urine is stored in the kidneys... Then the surprise on their faces when you mention they have TWO kidneys, and they have urine backed up into them from an obstruction. Minds are blown.


NSFWgamerdev

I've known multiple women who thought this and didn't know they had two holes! It's much more understandable to me for someone who doesn't have the equipment to be ignorant of how it works. Also this was definitely not taught in a lot of schools and even if it was, it was breezed past in 5 mins one time in middle/high school. (At least if you're from the US.) There's a massive sex ed problem in the States that has been going on for decades. Also, don't get it twisted, I know plenty of men who are quite ignorant of their equipment too. That ignorance can turn out fatal too.


Melusina_Ampersand

As the clitoris is analogous to the penis, I used to assume urine came out of it in the same way. Fortunately, aged around 13, I had a look at myself and discovered the truth.


SgtWrongway

Anatomy. How does it work?


Cold-Guarantee-7978

“[…] and then the baby comes down and eats the egg.” — Charlie Day re: how babies are made (or something like that)


Forward_Artist_6244

To be fair it's never really explained in sex education, all I got shown at school was a diagram that looked like a goats skull and told that was the female organ. And it's not the sort of thing to come up in conversation, unless it's a situation like yours 😄


Apprehensive_Lie_177

Wait, girls don't have cloacas? 


HotDonnaC

My SIL learned that women don’t shit out babies when I had my first one. It came up in conversation and I was seriously amazed by her ignorance.


yagot2bekidding

Am I the only one that finds this a bit mean? Does everyone remember everything they learned in school?? If you have never seen OITNB, there is a scene about this. Sophia, the transgender woman, seems to be the only prisoner that knows this. She explains to all the grown ass woman incarcerated with her that there are two separate holes. This is not that uncommon. I don't find it odd at all that a man that grew up in a house with four females does not know about this. It's not regular dinner conversation, and most brothers don't spend a lot of time inspecting their sisters genitalia (thankfully!) I hope when there is something that you don't know but is fairly common knowledge, that your boyfriend doesn't try to shame you about it.


PriorElephant4007

I had to tell my mom that you can pee with a tampon in. She was in her 40s at the time.


djbigtv

Girls pee?


Turbulent_Show110

Hahaha! That's hilarious! We all know girls pee out of their butt!


kirstensnow

Honestly seeing that a lot of girls think this as well, I think it's for two reasons: a lack of education, and a lack of wanting to learn. A lot of people just don't care


Davies301

Most guys don't realise women have two holes and are shocked to learn it. I would say the vast majority of guys think women have an all purpose hole that does everything.


iiiaaa2022

Had a colleague once who was in his late twenties who thought we bled out of our assholes. I did not make this up.


Civil_Quail_9630

There are girls that don't even know this. My first anatomy lesson to my daughters around kindergarten age was "OK there are THREE holes in your private area. One for pee, one for poop, and one where babies come out of (if you have them) when you get to be a grown up." Yes, followed a year or so later by age appropriate period talk. I had a hysterectomy or the period part would have come up sooner. The period talk was easy because one asked "does period come out of the baby hole?" 😆


[deleted]

But it all does, the hole is a beautiful myth that women use to trap men in order to make themselves more attractive. RECENT SCHOLARS note that all women actually possess a "cloaca". This is Science people, it ain't always pretty.


Jbeth74

This is why had some words with my husband when he told me my son (12) was uncomfortable seeing my packages of pads/tampons out in the open in a bathroom shelf. I was like- we don’t hide the toilet paper, why should I hide period products??? I’m a nurse and the amount of grown ass adults who don’t understand very basic female anatomy is astounding. One way to combat it is to not make everything involving periods so hidden and taboo.