The world has way too many misconceptions about women – who we are, what we do and our bodies, of course. Since nobody paid attention during Biology classes, the female body is still a mystery to almost all. Don’t worry, we’ve come as saviours – here are 11 misconceptions about women’s body that need to be busted once and for all!
1. ‘Women don’t have an Adam’s apple’
Wrong. The right version would be – most women don’t have an Adam’s apple that shows. It is actually a bunch of cartilage plates held together by tissues and muscles to protect the vocal cords. Both men and women have these cartilage plates but it is more prominent in men because of their testosterone level and the angle of the cartilage which differs for both the sexes. Now that we know the truth, though, should we be calling it Adam and Eve’s apple?!
2. ‘Squirting is like peeing’
Um, no. They are two very different things. While the origin place of these two might be the same, the cause and effect are quite different. Squirting basically happens when a woman achieves an orgasm and liquid, literally, squirts out with a bit of force. Unlike peeing, it doesn’t happen easily and often. You can also tell the difference between the two by the colour, the smell and the consistency.
3. ‘Women have smaller bladders than men’
The reason women feel the urge to pee more often than men, actually has nothing to do with the size of the bladder but where it is located. A woman’s bladder has less space to expand as compared to a man’s bladder and hence, it has been assumed that women have a smaller bladder. When in fact, the size, even in this case, doesn’t really matter.
4. ‘Only women experience menopause’
Women experience menopause when the level of testosterone increases in their body and estrogen decreases. Similarly, men also experience andropause (the male menopause) when the testosterone level decreases in their body. It is a relatively lesser known phenomena but it exists.
5. ‘Period blood is like excreta’
Everybody who thinks period blood is this extremely disgusting thing quite similar to human excreta needs to revisit their Biology class. Period blood has nothing but blood and tissues from the uterus wall. Get your head out of the gutter and look into some books!
6. ‘Women don’t sweat’
Oh, we do. We sweat a lot, too. Sweating or not sweating has nothing to do with a person’s gender anyway, so get this idea out of your mind before you see us at our next shopping spree at Sarojini sweating almost as much as we would after a heavy workout session!
7. ‘Urethra and vagina are the same’
Let’s clear this once and for all – women don’t pee through their vaginas. The vagina and the urethra are two different orifices in our nether regions. The urethra is what a woman uses to pee and the vagina is for sexual intercourse.
8. ‘Excessive period pain is normal’
While menstrual cramps is something every woman goes through when she’s on her periods, excessive pain during periods is not a normal thing. There are chances that the woman might have an ovarian cyst or something more serious. So the next time your girlfriend/ wife/ sister complains about it, take it a little more seriously and get a check up done, just in case.
9. ‘Both the breasts look exactly the same’
Breasts are actually almost never symmetrical. Though the difference might not be visible every time, there still will be a difference. That’s a good thing though, right? ‘Coz otherwise things would get a tad bit boring!
10. ‘Breasts are always full of milk’
Whoever thinks this is true, please stop! Breasts produce milk only and only during pregnancy in order to prepare food for the baby after it’s born. So if a woman is not pregnant, she is not producing milk in her breasts.
11. ‘Women are naturally hairless’
You have no idea how we get through our waxing appointments just to look hairless. And even then, it’s only our arms and legs that manage to look slightly hairless. Blame those hair removal cream advertisements but unlike popular belief, we have hair on our arms, legs, stomach, back and other body parts, just like men do!
