johngloverspeaks.com

After enough men and enough mishaps, you realize that there are some things men just didn’t get the memo on when it comes to the woman’s body. Like these:

zazzle.com

Boobs bruise

Sometime after high school, all guys learned—no more hickies! But, that doesn’t mean bruises are a thing of the past. Ever woken up the next morning with black and blue finger prints on your chest? Some men get a little too excited and in the heat of passion, don’t realize that they’re grabbing your breasts as if they’re planning on stealing them. And while it’s nice we get them that excited, it’s not nice wearing turtlenecks for the next week.

The fact that black women are less prone to psychiatric disorders may also explain why they are less likely to suffer from premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), the most severe form of PMS.

Black women are also less likely to suffer from premenstrual symptoms overall, according to a study published in Psychological Medicine earlier this year. The premenstrual experience of more than 1,600 black women was compared with that of more than 900 white women (this group included Latinas), and black women’s risk of PMDD was less than half that of Caucasians. PMDD is defined as five or more severe PMS-like symptoms such as anxiety, mood disorders, bloating, cramps, and aches and pains.

Typically, women who experience sex- and race-based discrimination are more likely to have PMDD, but when it comes to black women, it appears we have a health advantage over this condition. Good news for us.

Do you experience strong premenstrual symptoms each month? Have you ever been diagnosed with PMDD?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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Am I the only one who thinks most attempts to poke fun at PMS isn’t very humorous? And it’s not cause I don’t have a sense of humor or I’m sensitive about that time of the month. Not at all. More so because most jokes about PMS always come off with women looking like big, angry, pre-menstrating Godzillas, and men as our helpless, fiercely misunderstood boyfriends. For a big example of this, check out the new ad campaign by the California Milk Processor Board, known for their once very popular “Got Milk?” campaigns.

In an article by the New York Times, according to Steve James, executive director of the milk board, the new “Everything I Do is Wrong” campaign is aimed at showing that PMS is something that “the sexes struggle with together.” How do they do this? By addressing women through men. At the bottom of the ads in bold letters says the words “Milk Can Help Reduce the Symptoms of PMS” (some experts are saying this is true). But at the top of the ads are men, grown men, appearing very thirsty to get their women milk as phrases above their heads say things like: “I’m sorry I listened to what you said and not what you meant,” “We can both blame myself,” and “I apologize for not reading between the right lines,” just to name a few.

The attention that the ad has garnered will definitely help it in the long run, but in the mean time, a number of women aren’t laughing. The fact that a woman having PMS is made to look like she’s putting her man in a dangerous situation has some ladies seeing red. On Forbes‘ blog, writer “Girl Friday” called the ads and the advertisers who created them sexist, and one commenter on a post about the ad for the Los Angeles Times so eloquently yet sarcastically ranted:

“‘OH WOMEN they so MEAN and EMOTIONAL! Am I right?’ EAT A D**K, milk people!”

Yikes! I don’t know about all that, but do you think the ads succeed at trying to be funny? Or are they disrespectful and sexist?

To see all seven ads, check out cbsnews.com.

By LaShaun Williams

Have you ever swung a bathroom door with a little more force than necessary, or hollered at some bystander with more decibels than needed in your voice — simply because your hormones are raging and you can’t control the natural PMS process that governs your womanly system?  Yes, you have. Of course, you have. And, if you think you “haven’t,” then you definitely have it bad — because you have and you might have gotten so used it that you don’t even realize anymore that you have! But, never fear. Here’s how you can avoid a case of “the-PMS-haves,” especially in a professional context… like, say… two feet away from your gnarly boss.

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