50 Facts About Female Bodies That Women Wish They Had Learned About As Teens

Pain is not normal.

SignalAssistant2965:

OMG that's a big one! I so much wish women's pain wouldn't be so often dismissed as "normal" and just a "part of what it means to be a woman".

Not about bodies specifically, more so about periods. Teens; it is okay if your pad or tampon wrapper makes a noise in the bathroom! Don’t feel ashamed about your period, you don’t need to hide them or feel dirty.

Pretty much everyone has stretch marks and cellulite.

coddswaddle:
Even very skinny people.

That the women playing high schoolers in movies are in their 20s and that you shouldn’t compare yourselves to them when you’re a teen.

How long perimenopause lasts. I assumed your periods just stopped like a car running out of gas.

Commonfckingsense:
I genuinely still thought this until your comment, so thank you for educating me today.

Fantastic_Fig_8559:
Mine has changed me. I don’t feel like me anymore. All I thought was I might have some hot flashes and my periods would stop. It’s literally been eight years of hell so far. Every day a new ailment.

It’s okay to have body hair. Having body hair, anywhere on the body, doesn’t make you any less of a woman.

No_Foundation7308:

It's also okay to pluck or not if you choose to. Don’t let anyone make you feel bad about it one way or the other.

That it’s not normal if you’re in severe pain every time you have your period. That it isn’t “normal” to barely function when you have your period.

That if you’re dealing with such pain and heavy bleeding, there’s a decent likelihood you have endometriosis (or a similar condition like PCOS)

That one in ten have endometriosis. That one in three miscarry.

That none of these things make you weird or less valuable or less of a woman. That you’re not alone.

That it's not studied properly, so don't trust doctors much. They have professional blindness here.

Grizzlyfrontignac:

The book "invisible women" by Caroline Criado-Perez HUGELY opened my eyes to this. I wish it was just doctors, but much pain and suffering by women has been ignored by professionals of all kinds simply because our issues aren't exactly like those of men. And we're just left there to accept it! It's crazy.

That many men think it exists solely for their use at their whim, and will start preying on you when you're an eleven year old child.

That not having a completely flat tummy is 100% normal and that exercise (weight lifting specifically) is much more important for us than we think (beyond esthetics).

The slime your [lady bits] produce is normal. The bleaching of dark underwear is normal. I had to learn this from Mama Doctor Jones.

That bodies come in all sizes and with lots of different anatomy options for all body parts. And that you can't be blamed for how your body looks.

All the damage pregnancy can do to your body. And that there are things you can do to prevent or minimize it.

That the strength, vitality and health I was enjoying then would fade and I should have appreciated it as the gift it was.

That my concerns over being too flat chested, having too pointy a nose, or being too “much” were someone else’s insecurities being projected onto me.

That every photo in every magazine depicting perfect hair, flawless skin, and long legs was retouched…a lie being told to convince me I was “less than” just to sell me something.

That you’ll still sometimes have period accidents and bleed through your pants even as an adult.

Aim for looking like/feeling like the best version of yourself, rather than trying to attain the looks of someone else.

Women bodies are not suppose to look like the super models.

That having a little belly pooch is totally normal because of the reproductive organs being in the way.

I just thought I was always fat, even when I weighed 110lbs.

That being skinny isn’t always safe. I don’t mean being obese is what we should aim for, but starving myself and doing more to maintain a small size was more harmful than healthy. 

That no matter how skinny you are, your body has very specific markers of change that generally come around approximately each decade due to hormonal changes, and that’s okay. 


That stretch marks are okay and sometimes come because of growth spurts.

So much… so, SO much. 

I was raised in the 80s and 90s, when women were judged very harshly. I wish we were kinder to girls and women back then.

You will look like 7 different people in the span of one month because of your hormones and it’s okay if you don’t always love what you see. It is temporary.