Men's Attitudes

A survey conducted in 2005 known as the PremCal Map Survey (Men's Attitudes of PMS Survey) shows that men have some pretty silly ideas about premenstrual syndrome (PMS). For example, 78% of US men believe that PMS is just a normal part of the menstruation experience, a third think there's no such thing as a cure for PMS, 42% believe men also have a kind of male PMS, and 21% are sure that PMS is passed down from mother to daughter.

No Clue

The survey helped us understand that men haven't a clue about PMS—12% of them think that PMS is all in a woman's head, 6% believe PMS is a contagious condition, and only a small number of those surveyed, 14%, understand that PMS may be due to a vitamin deficiency.

One thousand adults, both men and women, took part in this survey, which was conducted back in 2004. The men and women were all aged 18 or older. This is one of the few large studies to focus on PMS in regards to sex-specific social attitudes toward the condition.

The survey gave a great deal of insight about how sufferers of PMS are viewed by others. Most of those surveyed felt that staying away from people with PMS is a good idea. Half of the participants said that they had been the victims of PMS hostility and found it hard to share the workplace with PMS sufferers. A great many agreed that women suffering from PMS have a negative outlook (40%), aren't rational, and are definitely not stable (31%). Many also said that women with PMS lose their creativity and find it hard to make rational decisions (19%).

They're Ugly

Not quite one-fifth of the men stated that women with PMS are ugly from both a physical and a sexual standpoint. Men were more likely to posit that PMS sufferers are irrational and unstable (35% compared with only 27% of the women).

Here's where it gets really wild: 22% of those surveyed, both men and women, feel that eradicating PMS would bring happiness, stability, and world peace! One-fifth of the participants said that ridding the world of PMS would be comparable to winning the lottery (11%) and another 12% of the males said that getting rid of PMS would be like watching the World Series without being bothered by commercial breaks.

Almost 8 in 10 adults said they act in a different way when they are forced to be around someone with PMS, though 59% will suffer in silence no matter how bad that sufferer tries to make them feel. 33% of the respondents said they would stay out of the way of the person with PMS at all costs, and 28% said they wouldn't avoid the sufferer, but would walk on eggs to avoid setting off a tantrum. Men and women alike seemed to feel the same way about PMS sufferers regardless of whether the woman in question is a loved one or a coworker.

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