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January 31, 2018

The ‘man flu’ is real. Are you kidding me?

I still don’t believe it, but apparently the man flu is real.

IS IT CULTURAL?

My friend and I both asked my partner if he knew what a man cold or a man flu was.

He gave us both a look, an incredulous laugh and said:… What’s that?

When we explained that it was because men seemed to get hit harder by colds and so on, he snorted and said: Sounds like a load of crap to me.

Then we started asking around to other friends (guys and women), and it turns out that this “man cold” or “man flu” seems to be originating mostly Anglophone countries like England, Australia, Canada and America.

My partner, being from France, has never heard of this, and psychologically, maybe has never prepped his brain to believe that it could actually exist.

AND WOMEN?

When we’re sick, we keep doing everything we are meant to do to get done and make the most of what we can.

After a day or so, we’re back upright and working, and still trying to get what we can get done as our energy ramps up.

The only thing I do, is I don’t go to yoga (energy is too low), and I work a little slower at work, go through a pile of handkerchiefs, pop a few more cold and sinus pills, and that’s pretty much the change.

What do you think?

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8 Comments

  • Kandice
    February 1, 2018

    I could be lying half dead in bed next to my very much alive and awake husband and my kids would still wake me up to ask me to do something. It’s really quite annoying. That being said, my husband is usually pretty good about not overplaying it when he is sick. I just repeat to him what his mom told him when he was growing up: Get up and go to school. 😂

    Reply
  • Cassie
    January 31, 2018

    Ugh, I’ve already had this discussion with my coworkers.

    First off, the researcher in question was tired of having people tell him he was overreacting when getting ill, and designed a study to prove it was real. Not exactly an unbiased starting point.

    Secondly, his first argument was that men are more frequently admitted to the hospital for flu complications. It’s already known that women are taken less seriously when requesting medical help, and this undoubtably plays into admittance rates:
    http://digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1144&context=fac_pubs

    Thirdly, the study hasn’t corrected for smoking, drinking, activity levels, diet quality, or anything else that affects the potential longevity or severity of flu symptoms. If someone doesn’t look after themself, and ends up getting a brutal flu, should we be treating them with more sympathy because it hit them harder? That’s not to say that men on the whole don’t look after themselves, but there are larger demographics of male smokers and drinkers than there are female. This matters!

    I’m just kinda fuming again.

    Reply
  • liteadventurer
    January 31, 2018

    Some people revert to acting children when they get ill. I’ve seen it happen with both men and women, so I’m not sure if it’s necessarily a “man” thing. I’ve got one family friend who, according to his wife, acts like a complete baby when he’s sick and his mother happens to be around.

    Reply

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