Google Alert, you are such a blog matchmaker and networking pal. I really like you. You introduce me to people like Natural PaPa, who are non-trad NFP fans with sharp swords of wit, who write blog entries like this:
Image: Gonzalo Baeza Hernández at Flickr
Three things women just love to hear:
- She’s PMS-ing.
- Is it that time of the month?
- Are you on the rag?
Not. So. Much.
But men say them anyway, even if not to women’s faces.
And now, thanks to a couple of iPhone apps, they don’t have to say it out loud – they can just think it and still feel superior.
PMS Buddy is an app which allows its users to keep track of the menstrual cycles of women they know, in order to “to minimize negative encounters between those with PMS and those close to them”.
Say what?
Let me back up for a minute.
First of all, PMS doesn’t affect all women. Yes, for those who suffer from it, it’s real. But it’s been so overplayed in the media by those selling ‘relief’, it’s become a cliché.
Second, I’ve known women that have decreased any PMS symptoms they did have through changing their diet and lifestyle. Yes, what you eat and what you put on your body and how much physical activity you get does affect you.
Third, menstruation is one of those unspeakable topics in modern society, and because of it, many girls grow up without any clue as to how their monthly cycle relates to fertility and pregnancy. I’ve met plenty of women (who have not had a baby) that don’t understand it – it’s kind of a mystery to them. Plus, among all the women on birth control right now, how many of them even know how their cycle really works?
My wife and I have had four children, and all but the first were conceived using natural family planning (the rhythm method) – the first was a surprise, as first babies tend to be. She tracked her cycle with a thermometer and a chart, and I learned about the relationship between ovulation and menstruation through that process. It’s not a mystery to us.
Now that our daughter has reached that milestone, she’ll be taught about the amazing power of her moon cycle, as we call it. It’s not a period, or a monthly curse, or a ‘female problem’ to cope with. It’s an incredibly sacred thing – the woman’s ability to bring forth life.
But these PMS apps reduce menstruation to an annoying thing to be avoided:
“Since discussing PMS is not exactly welcomed dinner table conversation, and may lead to dinner plates being hurled across the room, we want to take the unexpectedness out of this recurring occurrence so that those affected by PMS can be prepared and aware.”
And you just gotta love their slogan: “Saving relationships, one month at a time.”
Because the sign of a good relationship is avoiding open communication, right?
Or maybe because people who can afford an iPhone and service simply don’t have the time to talk about those kinds of things…
According to TechCrunch, over 100,000 people use the PMSBuddy service, either on the web, or with the iPhone app or Facebook widget. And the BlackBerry and Android versions are coming soon.
Here’s one more example of how messed up this is: The website has a page for “Stories”, and here’s one recently posted (by a man, obviously):
“What PMS really stands for: Pounding Mens Scrotums”
Yeah, that sure helps… Sheesh.
And of course, if you consider yourself a real ladies man, there’s this one: iAmAMan “will help you with your private life planning … by tracking several girls.” Because of course, men have their choice of more than one sexual partner every night, eh?
What do you think about these PMS apps?
Now, I wasn’t the biggest fan of his use of the “RM” phrase, but he this was pointed out quickly by a couple commenters (including moi) on his blog, and Natural PaPa has since humbly recanted from using the phrase. I really like one of his main points that said App is a lame attempt at helping relationships, but really is a technological legitimization of sexism. Amen.
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