Globally, women are more likely to experience violence, stalking and online harassment. Studies have shown that women’s pain is less likely to be taken seriously in medical settings. Women still carry an unequal share of unpaid domestic labor.
These aren’t isolated stories. They’re patterns.
That doesn’t mean that men don’t face their own struggles. But gender-based inequality is real, and it shapes women’s daily decisions in ways that often go unnoticed.
A Reddit user recently asked people to share things that women have to deal with on a daily basis that men have no clue about.
Some women shared stories of being dismissed by doctors when describing chronic conditions, other women talked about how they have to constantly stay on alert while stepping outside the house.
Check out the list if you want a glimpse into a world many men rarely think about.
#41
The same words that are rude from women's mouth are a ok when man says them with the same exact tone of voice.
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22points
#42
When I rode the bus regularly I never thought twice about sleeping on it. Mentioned it to a female friend and she was all "you do what now!?!?!".
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21points
#43
Tall men have no idea what it’s like to have a bigger person looming behind them.
Recently I was at the gym walking down the hallway to the locker room. Out of my periphery I saw a much taller person walking closely behind me, following me to the women’s. I started to get that prickly feeling and tensed up. When I rounded the corner I saw it was just a very tall woman and instantly relaxed.
In that moment I realized most tallish men have never experienced that prickly feeling of a bigger, taller person on their heels. They get to go through life always being bigger than everyone around them, and there’s a power to that.
Recently I was at the gym walking down the hallway to the locker room. Out of my periphery I saw a much taller person walking closely behind me, following me to the women’s. I started to get that prickly feeling and tensed up. When I rounded the corner I saw it was just a very tall woman and instantly relaxed.
In that moment I realized most tallish men have never experienced that prickly feeling of a bigger, taller person on their heels. They get to go through life always being bigger than everyone around them, and there’s a power to that.
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21points
#44
Where i work there is one owner,best man i thought ive ever met, hes married 20 years 3 daughters,ive been with him 10 years thought I knew him,so one morning a young ladie came in had to be about 15 crop top and leggings going to school spirit week,I was taking her order and looked to my left and he was actually mouth open staring into her soul, I felt so bad for her like I just wanted to grab her so he couldn't see her idk it changed the way I look at him and it actually made my stomach turn,like I get a look its human nature but the way he was ogling il never forget ,idk if this fits here but this, THIS is what females of all ages deal with.
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21points
#45
Men like to make fun of our interests. Oh you like hockey hahahahah. It’s from that gay hockey show isn’t it? Hahahah. Oh you like Harry Styles? You know he’s 20 years younger than you hahahahaha.
It’s supremely annoying. It’s ok for people to LIKE STUFF.
It’s supremely annoying. It’s ok for people to LIKE STUFF.
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21points
#46
Assuming you have the most basic of aspirations. When I was in college for the first time (18-20), whenever an adult asked me about college, they always asked if I had met someone or had a serious boyfriend. Apparently, I was in college just to meet a guy, while my male counterparts were asked about their majors, career aspirations, etc.
I went back to college in my mid 30s to get an engineering degree in computer science. I'm good at math, like really good. I had teachers ask if I would join the tutoring program and be a TA for a few classes. While tutoring kids and running study groups in college algebra, trig, calc 1 & 2, I was asked repeatedly if I wanted to be a teacher. I asked a few of my male counterparts if they had ever been asked that question, and the answer was no. They were asked what their major was, career aspirations, etc.
It's a quiet form of sexism. That because I'm a woman, I must be focused on marriage or if I am looking at a career, then it must be in a softer field. It doesn't even enter their minds that the woman who is better than them in difficult and key subject matters is looking at a STEM career.
I went back to college in my mid 30s to get an engineering degree in computer science. I'm good at math, like really good. I had teachers ask if I would join the tutoring program and be a TA for a few classes. While tutoring kids and running study groups in college algebra, trig, calc 1 & 2, I was asked repeatedly if I wanted to be a teacher. I asked a few of my male counterparts if they had ever been asked that question, and the answer was no. They were asked what their major was, career aspirations, etc.
It's a quiet form of sexism. That because I'm a woman, I must be focused on marriage or if I am looking at a career, then it must be in a softer field. It doesn't even enter their minds that the woman who is better than them in difficult and key subject matters is looking at a STEM career.
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21points
#47
The level of warmth and friendliness you exude in any conversation with a man - anything and everything is perceived as a green light for flirting.
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21points
#48
I genuinely don’t think they know that a lot of them are code -switching when they talk to us, and often times that switch can be to a more demeaning tone.
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20points
#50
Obvious one but period pain and suffering through having to pretend everything is fine and not say anything.
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19points
#51
Knowing our pain or symptoms will not be taken seriously at the Drs. That our heart attacks are so subtle they’re often missed and end us. That no matter what the problem is we are asked if we are pregnant. And that the issue is that we’re fat or it’s anxiety and all in your head (until we find out later it’s something that WAS easily treated initially and now it’s progressed into incurable). Yay.
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18points
#52
Being interrupted, talked over, or not believed.
It drives me crazy when I tell a man (family, friend, whatever) a random fact or information about a topic, and they don't believe me. I have to show them proof before they believe me.
But I never see this behaviour when it's a man telling them something. They just take his word for it.
It drives me crazy when I tell a man (family, friend, whatever) a random fact or information about a topic, and they don't believe me. I have to show them proof before they believe me.
But I never see this behaviour when it's a man telling them something. They just take his word for it.
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17points
#53
I’m a man, but from my wife’s pregnancies and prior history, being dismissed during medical evaluations
During my wife’s first pregnancy, she had a lot of morning sickness. In the interim, she had taken anti anxiety meds. The morning sickness was messing with her doses
Not. One. Doctor. Put. This. Together. We did.
She had a history of a diagnosis of ulcers. Prior to Covid, she had a flare up but even brat diet she couldn’t keep down. We were in and out of the ER, nobody could do anything but give her something for pain do the same test and send her on her way
Finally, one doctor finally listened when she said that she didn’t think it was ulcers because nothing was helping. Thankfully, this doc also saw her yesterday so he knew it was dire pain. He ordered a different test
Lo and behold, my wife didn’t have ulcers, she needed her gallbladder out!!!
Even when it’s female on female for medical care, my wife has been dismissed or belittled.
EDIT: My wife is introverted so it’s hard for her to be her own advocate, I do my best to support and speak up for her or give her the confidence to do it herself.
During my wife’s first pregnancy, she had a lot of morning sickness. In the interim, she had taken anti anxiety meds. The morning sickness was messing with her doses
Not. One. Doctor. Put. This. Together. We did.
She had a history of a diagnosis of ulcers. Prior to Covid, she had a flare up but even brat diet she couldn’t keep down. We were in and out of the ER, nobody could do anything but give her something for pain do the same test and send her on her way
Finally, one doctor finally listened when she said that she didn’t think it was ulcers because nothing was helping. Thankfully, this doc also saw her yesterday so he knew it was dire pain. He ordered a different test
Lo and behold, my wife didn’t have ulcers, she needed her gallbladder out!!!
Even when it’s female on female for medical care, my wife has been dismissed or belittled.
EDIT: My wife is introverted so it’s hard for her to be her own advocate, I do my best to support and speak up for her or give her the confidence to do it herself.
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17points
#54
Men who think women have an innate privilege based on how attractive we are (not talking about pretty privilege) and how many compliments we receive throughout our lives. it bothers me bc these men fail to realize that a compliment is one thing while being sexualized and only earning someones respect bc i am aesthetically pleasing to their eyes is a completely different thing.
or trying to foster a friendship only to find that men only want you for s*x, not a genuine connection. a lot of men would argue that it sounds better than never being complimented, but these men were not socialized in this way since before puberty and they have not widely been assumed to be incompetent at anything beyond housework and child-rearing (which they also often diminish as "easy").
i just want a world where i and everyone can be respected and treated with a kindness that isn't conditional based on their gender.
or trying to foster a friendship only to find that men only want you for s*x, not a genuine connection. a lot of men would argue that it sounds better than never being complimented, but these men were not socialized in this way since before puberty and they have not widely been assumed to be incompetent at anything beyond housework and child-rearing (which they also often diminish as "easy").
i just want a world where i and everyone can be respected and treated with a kindness that isn't conditional based on their gender.
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16points
#55
Hyper-vigilance. Plenty of comments here go into why we need it, but there is a reason women have a stereotype of being “overly detailed”. A common joke is a mom or a girlfriend finding an item in the fridge when the son / boyfriend can’t. Well, when you have to analyze every detail of your surroundings every single day to ensure you’re safe…you get good at noticing things.
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16points
#56
Having your intelligence constantly questioned, even when you're in the top of your fields. Men will still want a man to educate them.
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16points
#57
Having to dress up in disguise so you don't look too obviously attractive and female when you go out for a walk. Hide the hair, hide the figure, no makeup, baggy clothes, hat. Keys between knuckles, location on phone, avoid men.
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15points
#58
Our bodily functions. Like discharge and how it always seems to happen at the worst times, the risk of yeast infections and UTIs after intimacy (this exists with men too but it is infinitely easier for women to get them), mood swings and general hormones around our cycles, ovulation symptoms, more obscure and unknown period symptoms like insomnia or back pain, menopause and its slew of symptoms. it goes on and on.
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14points
#59
Constant and crippling fear that society is about to deem me as useless.
I'm 37 and just had my last baby. I'm no longer a fun college girl, No longer "young and beautiful", No one's waiting for me to announce a pregnancy, have another baby or do something exciting that anyone remotely cares about. My job is now just quietly raising my two boys. If they make a mistake later in life it'll be my fault. If I'm not present enough and they get in trouble it'll be my fault for working. If I don't work I'll be deemed as lazy. Once they graduate and go off to college I'll no longer be seen as a caregiver and I'll just be a boring middle-aged woman that's society doesn't give a darn about. I pray that one day they have partners who will let me be a presence in their lives and their grandchildren's lives. I guess I get to look forward to being an old lady that people will be excited to help cross the street.
ETA wow! Thank you guys for all the support! I feel like I should add, this isn't what I think of myself. I have a wonderful life, a husband who is my best friend, and a positive attitude. Luckily I'm fairly conventionally attractive, not like Instagram model but petite and cute, and look fairly young for my age. I have a lot of passions, own a business that I'm extremely proud of, and am a fairly well-known and liked pillar of my community. I definitely don't see women this way but it's easy to look around and see that overall, society does. Young women are seen as fun and beautiful, mothers are valued as caregivers, and then society quietly ignores us until we're cute old ladies. And then face it society kind of ignores us then. It feels like as women, we have to do something exceptional to be noticed at this age. And God forbid we try too hard to be included in anything because then we're seen as overbearing, pathetic, or desperate. Hopefully this isn't my fate. Thanks for reading! I'm off to put my baby to bed and then apply some anti-wrinkle cream!
I'm 37 and just had my last baby. I'm no longer a fun college girl, No longer "young and beautiful", No one's waiting for me to announce a pregnancy, have another baby or do something exciting that anyone remotely cares about. My job is now just quietly raising my two boys. If they make a mistake later in life it'll be my fault. If I'm not present enough and they get in trouble it'll be my fault for working. If I don't work I'll be deemed as lazy. Once they graduate and go off to college I'll no longer be seen as a caregiver and I'll just be a boring middle-aged woman that's society doesn't give a darn about. I pray that one day they have partners who will let me be a presence in their lives and their grandchildren's lives. I guess I get to look forward to being an old lady that people will be excited to help cross the street.
ETA wow! Thank you guys for all the support! I feel like I should add, this isn't what I think of myself. I have a wonderful life, a husband who is my best friend, and a positive attitude. Luckily I'm fairly conventionally attractive, not like Instagram model but petite and cute, and look fairly young for my age. I have a lot of passions, own a business that I'm extremely proud of, and am a fairly well-known and liked pillar of my community. I definitely don't see women this way but it's easy to look around and see that overall, society does. Young women are seen as fun and beautiful, mothers are valued as caregivers, and then society quietly ignores us until we're cute old ladies. And then face it society kind of ignores us then. It feels like as women, we have to do something exceptional to be noticed at this age. And God forbid we try too hard to be included in anything because then we're seen as overbearing, pathetic, or desperate. Hopefully this isn't my fate. Thanks for reading! I'm off to put my baby to bed and then apply some anti-wrinkle cream!
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14points
#60
It doesn’t matter what we do, we will never be looked at as superior automatically. We will always have to prove ourselves to men, to the world for our place and it doesn’t help when we have own tearing each other down either.
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14points
