NS August 23rd, 2006

It’s official: women are NOT hormonal, they’re just misunderstood and unappreciated. Hah! I (and about 500 million other women) could’ve told you that eons ago. But now Science has got our back. Holla!

A snippet from the article says “Women are being sold the idea that their bodies are biologically faulty and they need medication for PMS, post-natal depression and menopausal outbursts when in fact the pressures of being ‘superwoman’ are more likely to blame, says a leading expert.

Professor of Women’s Health Psychology at the University of Western Sydney, Jane Ussher, has been researching the issue for 20 years and says that women are being controlled by medical practices which position their unhappiness as a biomedical condition.

“I would argue that PMS and PND are essentially a form of repressed rage women feel rather than a medical illness. Our research has shown that their distress often stems from women trying to do too much for everyone – except themselves,” says Professor Ussher.

“The tags pre-menstrual syndrome, post-natal depression (PND) and menopause, have become catch-all diagnostic categories that attribute women’s unhappiness to their reproductive bodies and legitimise medical management of their condition,” says Professor Ussher.

“The problem with this view is that it ignores the fact that female unhappiness is often an understandable response to the realities of women’s lives.”

I have been thinking about this issue a lot lately. Nothing demeans, degrades and minimizes women more than telling them that they are driven purely be emotions and their monthly cycles. If we expect basic human decency and respect from our husbands and have to yell to get it, we’re told we’re PMSing. If we feel overwhelmed with responsibility and tears as we look at our 3 day-old baby, who hasn’t stopped screaming for 4 hours, and wonder how our partner can sleep through the noise and our obvious emotional pain, we have Post Natal Depression. If we turn 50 and decide to stop picking up the dirty socks and paying the bills on time and join an art class instead, we’re having a menopausal meltdown. And what is the solution? PUT HER ON PILLS. Make her be quiet, numb her pain, shut her the hell up.

Men are so scared of our “hormones” that there are multi-billion dollar industries set up around regulating and controlling them. I say poo on them and their stupid pills. Stop ignoring what we’re saying when we scream — we don’t do it for fun, believe me. We don’t enjoy having to repeat ourselves over and over and over again, or getting called a bitch and a nag for expecting basic things like a clean house, help with the kids, emotional maturity and the ability to trust that things won’t go to shit if we’re not around.

Now, I’m not pulling a Tom Cruise here and suggesting that no one needs medication to help them through these things, many women legitimately do, but I would hedge my bets that there are plenty others who don’t need a pill, they need some respect. We are not all driven by the pull of the moon and the things that make us women. But even if we were, it’s no reason to brush our legitimate concerns and complaints under the rug by patting us on the head and saying “You poor thing, you need a course of Midol/Zoloft/HRT and that’ll make it all better” while hiding the china and smirking behind our backs. What if, instead, we all took back control of our lives and put those pharmaceutical companies out of business so we can focus the funds and energy on figuring out a way to actually create equality for women once and for all, before we end up in padded rooms? Men, pay attention! Utter no more the dreaded three-letter acronyms: PMS, PND and HRT, or you may end up with an R-O-D up your A-S-S.

Hormonal, moi?!

• Feminist Fury , Health and Fitness
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