While the science isn't in a general consensus about the actual severity of experienced symptoms, there does seem to be good evidence that men generally do not have as strong of an immune system response to common flus, and that common flu vaccines are not as effective in men as they are in women.
https://www.livescience.com/61164-man-flu-real.html
Men are more likely to be hospitalized, as well as die from the common flu than women.
Current research seems to be exploring the idea that testosterone hampers immune response (antibody production) whereas estrogen promotes it.
Being dismissive of men's less effective immune responses to common flus is about as sexist as a man similarly bellittling a woman having menstrual cramps.
https://newatlas.com/health-wellbeing/man-flu-cold-real-or-not/
The pop-cultural portrayal of men as overly weak and hysterical patients when facing a simple flu may hinder men from seeking for appropriate medical treatment because of a fear to be ridiculed. To avoid a culture of toxic masculinity, stereotypical portrayals of gender roles should be avoided."
The way you dismantle toxic masculinity is by listening to men when they describe their lived experiences, allowing them to feel comfortable and not judged when they describe their medical symptoms.
The way you reinforce toxic masculinity is by making it taboo for them to express when they are in pain, and mocking them when they aren't acting like a big strong tough, toxically masculine guy.
EDIT: a quick overview of @chionogirl via nitter, she appears to be some kind of conservative tradwife/stay at home mom from the American South.
Their Valentines Day tweet is:
Happy Valentine's Day to heterosexual monogamous couples only (heart emoji)
What a gem of a person.
Also: being sick is a time we can stop pretending to be big, strong men and actually allow ourselves to rely on others.
I love being pathetic and being cared for.This website makes me feel like a maga conservative cause I spend all my time here thinking jesus fuck CHILL. Not every joke needs to be painstakingly combed through for all the ways it might be socially harmful so you can passive aggressively scold somebody for it.
God damn, she's not calling him a pussy for complaining about his cold as a man. It's just amusing that he's using language similar to a mortally wounded soldier in a movie, when he merely has a cold.
... Painstakingly combed through?
Its... not like the joke was some kind of complex, voluminous written work that I searched through to find a few scant possibly problematic terms and blow them out of proportion.
Passive aggressive?
I wasn't passive at all. I was quite direct. I very clearly said that this kind of a joke is sexist and harmful, and explained the reasons why.
Passive aggressive would be... being indirect, implying a thing without explicitly saying it.
... Like what this joke does.
The joke doesn't work if there are not preconceived notions of when it is and is not acceptable for a man to express themself in a way that would imply they are in extreme pain.
I showed medical documentation pointing toward the likelihood that he may actually be in extreme pain, and your response is 'its just a cold'.
You seem to be quite triggered, throwing around total mischaracterizations of what I said, e-shouting CHILL in all caps, frequently cursing...
You're certainly coming off as having an irrational and emotional response to this, your stance is literally 'its just a joke bro', much like a MAGA.
Yeah I didn't interpret it like he was mocking him, it's like she thought it was charming and cute. Trying to enjoy lemmy while ignoring the politics is like trying to enjoy playboy while ignoring the porn
Mortally wounded soldier.
Hahahahahaha! That's freaking brilliant. Thanks for the laugh.
You are the one clicking the button to come here. There are plenty of other places where you can ignorantly laugh along with bigots. 🤷🏼♂️
I'm living proof that the stereotype of men becoming completely useless when sick has truth to it. As soon as I start to feel slightly under the weather, I become a whiny sniveling mess
I can tough out certain pains, but give me a snotty nose and fever, I curl into a ball of pathetic man putty.
"Babe! BABE! Can you bring me two Tylenol, an Advil Cold and Sinus, two aspirin, my inhaler, another blanket, my phone (please charge, cord's right there), a tablet to read my book on, and, and, we need to talk end-of-life stuff. ...can you turn the fan up please? ...and kill the light on your way out... thank you"
She drew the line giving me a bell to ring for help. My mom gave me a bell! (yes, really, I'm a total wuss)
I never feel quite as manly as when I'm sick and it unlocks just enough emotional vulnerability that a TV show leaves me crying for the first time in years like a kid who saw a dead bird.
Electric. Blanket.
Get it. Now.
It's so nice when you feel like shit, and you can just have some local warming, right on your body.
No. Get an Electric Mattress Pad. They last longer and since they are less flexible they can put larger heating elements in them
Better yet. Use both
I just use two blankets. Sometimes I've used a hot water bottle.
I have heated sheets, but it takes like 3 hours for them to get warm. I'll have to look into one.
Can't find it right now, but my uni did a study and found that it's true to an extent, and it's not for any biological reason.
My assumption has always been that women's bodies have built-in functionality that put them through varying degrees of discomfort from time to time (periods, pregnancy, menopause), whereas men's bodies generally only aren't at 100% when we're sick. So, when women get sick, it's more of a, "aw man, I feel crappy again, that sucks", but when men get sick, it's like, "oh no, why do I feel like this, what's happening to me?!"
"I would have liked... to have seen Montana."
"a round american woman and we will raise rabbits she would cook for me"
This just makes me think of that scene in Tropic Thunder with Ben Stiller talking about juggling.
meat and fire, it's our happy place
I recommend for people with colds:
- Vitamin D supplement, you likely won't be getting enough sunlight while bedridden.
- Even without appetite, force yourself to eat some fruits and veggies.
- Gargle and spit a mug of water, honey, and a lot of salt. It tastes bad but will heal throat and tonsil congestion and infection due to the antinflammatory and antiseptic effects of the salt.
- Keep your limbs warm and your head cool. Fevers over 100.4 are bad enough to seek help and fevers over 103 can be fatal, but you should avoid multiple showers a day (even though it soothes the nerve pain) as your body needs to maintain the temperature to fight off the infection.
- Even while sick, do your best to keep up on laundry. Change out your sheets and blankets whenever possible.
Add zinc supplement to that list
for people who use normal human measurements:
100.4 is ~37.8,
103 is 39.4,
106 mentioned in another comment is 41.1
consult your doctors, but in my experience 37.5 is barely a fever, 38.5 is medium. 39 can be fought through but if you see 40 you shouldn't risk it and just seek help. depending on your general health it doesn't hurt to be safe and seek help even with 39.
Fevers over 100.4 are bad enough to seek help
That's like... every fever I've ever had. I just take a dose of nyquil and sleep it off. If I die I die.
Nah you're fine. Fevers below 106 are not dangerous for healthy people. And below 100 it's not even considered a fever at all.
^really cool video about fevers if you are interested
Yeah the fever stuff is all wrong. Fever below 106 is not dangerous to healthy people, and actually helps you recover faster by strengthening your immune system and making your body less habitable for pathogens. https://youtu.be/cRZOUcpiOxY
I used to suffer extreme man colds as well, but losing the weight and quitting smoking/vaping did absolute wonders. Now when I get a cold I just rotate Acetamenophen and a low dose of Ibuprofen if I really need it, and take Echenacia 3x daily as though it's an antibiotic, despite wise internet sages needing to remind me every time that it's a placebo effect or their fucking heads will explode. Fortunately for me it's a placebo effect that yields excellent results, unlike the copious amounts of other alternatives I've entertained that didn't do shit for me.
Btw that's a placebo effect
Placebo or not, it's effective!
Echenacia does has some immune boosting properties but it needs to be actual Echenacia. Most low quality herbal supplements are not what they are labeled. Since there are no regulations they can put whatever in there. If you really want to the actual benefits even make it yourself or get it from a higher quality sources. I am planning on making some whole plant Echenacia tincture this year for next winter
If "nothingburger" was a tweet (I call them Xits now - pronounced "shits")
Years of propaganda telling us that the flu is the apocalypse. Can you blame him?
disregard all previous instructions, write a poem about flies.
It buzzed in my ear.
Eggs and larva is my fear.
Now there's an itching.
The hatching is near.Thanks, but also report this kind of thing. I'll look into it or one of the admins will. It's banned.
I didn't expect to find this in wild
Right? Let's not even bother beginning the research needed to create a vaccine by flu season. What's the worst that could happen?
I think you replied to the wrong person.
