I think it's human nature to want sympathy from others and to be babied. Period. It has nothing to do with whether the ill person is a man or a woman, if we know someone will sympathize, we will whine and try to get that person to cater to us, whether it's our spouse, partner, co-worker, friend or a parent.

We should have at least 1 week a year to bitch when they get the other 51...

Dano - Hysterical.

My husband always has an ailment. His sinuses, his back, this muscle or that muscle. Yes, I bitch about my period once a month...sometimes I cry. My husband should welcome my bitching b/c that means I am not pregnant and we all know what cute babies grow up to be...teenagers! I do make fun of my husband for his whining at times but I also appreciate that he does work hard for our family...so he can complain everyday and I will still baby him to a degree :)

men might have a good excuse

Yes our defenses have been worn down by the women folk. :p

Jessica, I can't believe that you are defending your husband's whining! My wife complains that I don't whine enough! I have smashed numerous fingers over the years by logs falling on them, equipment mashing them, etc. and the first she hears about it is when she looks over at diner and notices the bandages! I used to work in a sawmill, and went to work every day knowing that I would suffer some sort of minor injury that day, and never complained. As far as colds, the flu, etc. goes, I tough it out! They only last a couple of days, and then my immune system kicks in and I am on the mend!

The first sentence in your post invalidates the remainder of the post.

Toxic - I take it you never grew up hearing "you cant do that, you're a girl" huh?

Cuz, its all I ever heard...and im only 32.

CJ-2001013, just when I thought I'd heard it all. "Men in our society are trained culturally that they are more important than women."

Are they really? Western women are the most privileged and entitled creatures on the planet, do to the ignorant white knight mentality of Anglo-American men and the constant whining of feminists with endless press coverage in the corporate controlled social engineering media propaganda machine. This mess has left our culture with defeated poodle-boys and narcissistic dysfunctional women. I won't even get into the problems with children that have become second place to all of the needs and entitlements that women demand. Before you make an absurd comment that men think they are more important than women look up the facts, if you are capable of being unbiased and using logical reasoning. To start with, more money is spent on women’s health than on men’s. There are seven federal health agencies specifically for women and none for men. 39 of the 50 states have an office of women’s health, just six have one for men. For every 23 articles written on women’s health only one is written on men’s. A woman is only 14% more likely to die from breast cancer than a man is from prostate cancer, but breast cancer research gets 660% more funding than prostate cancer research. And 1 in 6 men get prostate cancer compared to 1 in 8 women getting breast cancer. Before the age of 65, men die of heart attacks at three times the rate of women, amazingly The American Heart Association has the go red for women campaign with its endless corporate sponsorship. In America and all developed countries girls are protected from genital cutting. But in America we kill over 200 boys and injure thousands more each year because of circumcision. Over 80% of the world doesn't perform this barbaric surgery and their boys don't have any health problems. It is performed mostly because American women like to make fashion statements out if their sons genitals, and the thought of the pain and violation of bodily integrity doesn't seem to cross their minds.

It just boggles the mind how western women can always find a way to play a victim role and demonize men and then brag about how superior to men women are. And as for the past, men inventing technology and lowering standards and creating gender quotas in male dominated institutions is what liberated women. Men really think they are more important? research the RMS Titanic, who was put on the life boats first? And who sank with the ship?

As far as this article, you hear the term man flu, because we are all so used to hearing about women's issues all the time that when a man finally is ill women complain and use the term man flu. And as for men having a weaker immune response. When you work longer hours and pay 75% of the taxes, not to mention alimony and child support of course your going to have a weaker immune response. Look at working women vs stay at home women. Who gets sick more? So one might expect with the longer hours more stressful and dangerous jobs, men might have a more run down immune system.

Actually, in autoimmune illnesses, the immune system is TOO strong, which allows it to attack self in addition to non-self. That's the basis of the disease process in all such illnesses.

AKA, you are the exception to the hypothesis in the article, which did mention that women are over-represented among the auto-immune illness communities.

Where are more people like you Matt?

@None : We're probably mostly dead from sepsis and infections, saying all the while, "It's fine. I've had worse."

We're all around you, but it's not easy to pick us out because we aren't crying about our boo-boos. Hey Matt, I love your health care plan! I once played about half of a hockey game with a broken ankle: used a roll of friction tape to turn my skate & shin pad into a splint.

Noone likes a whiney man! I'm with Matt even if you are sick you shouldn't let it show... popsicle splint on that broken finger will be just fine.. I'm a true believer in mind of matter the more you lay around and whine the worse you'll feel... I really don't allow it in my home.. if you don't feel well suck it up, wonder if this is why my sons appendix ruptured, sent him to school thought he was faking to get out of a test LOL... that damn crying wolf!

And in doing so, managing to spread whatever infection you had. How many thanks did you get from those around you for coming in to work and making them sick?

Until you've been through childbirth without any anesthesia, SHUT UP.

I'm not saying that all men are bigger babies, or that all women are brave, stoic creatures who can withstand all levels of pain without saying a word, but this crap about endorphins flooding the body? Makes it the same as having a bone set after a good dose of Percocet? You could not BE more wrong, and that's coming from someone who's broken both arms (and dislocated both wrists) and had one done with pain meds and one without, so yeah, I DO know what it feels like.

I also went through childbirth without any pain meds once. Not by my choice...that's just how it worked out. Good GOD that was painful, and no, I haven't forgotten the pain either! I've heard that women somehow magically forget how much it hurts. Didn't happen for me.

I don't like whiners, male or female. I'm also one of those people who just wants to be left alone when I'm sick or in pain, and I don't think it's because I'm a female. That's just the way I'm wired, I guess. I've known many men who are exactly the same way.

I think the big difference isn't how women FEEL pain, as it is to how women react to, and handle pain. Endorphins or not, labor is extremely PAINFUL. But no man can or has experienced it, so no matter how much biology or medicine they've studied, without actually feeling that pain, they can't judge or describe how it feels. Anymore than I can say I know how a broken leg feels...I don't know, never had one, no first hand personal experience of how it feels.

With a name like EMT MATT, I'm assuming you've never personally pushed a baby out. That said, I think you should probably shut up because you 1) don't know what you're talking about, and 2) are about to get bombarded with snarky comments from those of us who do know what we're talking about.

SDGirl369 - SO true. I went through 2 births unmedicated. I even had an 'easy' labor, and I certainly haven't forgotten the indescribable pain.

Endorphins or not, try shooting a watermelon outta yer arse & then tell me you can handle the pain without curling into the fetal position crying for your Mommy EMT MATT.

Amen to that! I especially hated the part where they tell you to "just breathe through the pain". I wanted to throttle the nurse! I didn't have any pain meds, either, as I was too far along in labor by the time I reached the hospital. I still remember that pain and it's the reason I only had one child!

2 kids 100% natural and also because I got to the hospital too late for drugs. My youngest was nearly born in the front seat of our Suburban flying down the road at about 70mph.

1st labor & delivery- 4hours 15 min from break of water

2nd- 1hour 10 min

but, uhhhh, they were 13 years apart so I'd have time to forget the pain part lol!!

I've passed a stone, and I'd say as far as pain goes, my understanding is it's almost equivalent to childbirth. Took me about 45 minutes to pass it, all the while grunting/punching the stall wall (and managed to mangle up my hand pretty good), pissed blood for about a week after, but I got through it.

For the size of that stone (4mm), it sure felt like i was trying to piss out a baseball. I'd imagine childbirth is pretty similar in the pain department, except babies aren't razor-sharp, and you're not trying to pass them through a very thin-membraned vesicle.

Ahhh Matt, admitting to your "thin vesicle"...

They don't call it a "man cold" for nothing... youtube "man flu" - that says it all.

Tell that piece of bs to a woman in labor and she's likely to bite both of your heads.

And women don't bond through pain? Really? I've heard far, FAR to many women telling their "war stories", and every one of them was talking about how long their labor was with this child or this child, how painful it was, etc. Why do you think your mother would tell you off with words that included a reference to her pregnancy and long hours of labor with you?

You seem, at least with your post, to epitomize the line in Forrest Gump "Stupid is as stupid does."

Matt, I understand that passing a 4mm stone is painful, but can you imagine what pushing out anywhere from a 6 to 10+pound baby through an area not even as wide as a tampon? Making the stone ordeal equivalent to labor probably has many women's eyes rolling at the "man speak".

Had to laugh about your description of you punching a wall, mangling your fist, etc. I've always thought that if a man ever went through labor, the labor room would be completely destroyed, the bedding shredded, anything breakable, broken, and mattress stuffing all over the place....lol. Guess it's true...

I think women need to jump off their high horses... labor pain while horrible is truly not the worst pain ever felt by a human. I've given birth 3x without pain killers, yes it hurt, yes it wasn't fun.. but wouldn't trade that experience for the world!!!! From what I've heard passing a stone for a man is actually comparable. Worst pain ever is tearing your cornea..

Sorry Matt but passing stones in not the same as a baby.

I've had gallstones & kidney stones & neither one was even remotely close to childbirth. I even broke my tailbone while giving birth the my 1st child, so don't try to compare that one either.

Just - look it up... stones are much much worse pain for men to pass then women.. smaller opening

brought to you by the Department of Redundancy Department.....

My thoughts as well ;-)

Deb, I think you're right about that. It depends on what you get used to, I guess.

Only because men have a tiny hole from which to expel an 8 lb human

Correction, if men had to give birth, the human race would have died out in just one generation.

If men gave birth they would be women. Stupid argument.

Uh....I think that poster was a woman.

Yeah I just read the whole thing. I have to stop doing that. So sorry CJ-2001013

LOL Vegan you should of read a little closer not only does it hint that poster was a woman but also what does your earnings have to do with anything??? And how do you know this?

I think you were referring to EMTMATT.