Common knowledge that might not be common for fundies

[browngrl]

I just read and "awk and awe" post from this blog: freshmodesty.blogspot.ca/

she writes: "{Girls only} Hanging out with a friend and her 20-something older brother in a gift shop, we were looking at the greeting cards. My friend picks one up and shows it to me: "PMS: Purchase More Shoes" I laugh and laugh and we put the card back on the rack. Her brother looks over at it and, in his normal loud, manly voice, says, "PMS-- What's that?!" so that it echoed through the crowded gift shop. My friend and I were laughing too hard to answer, but she eventually said, "It's something to explain in a private conversation." and I chimed in, "Yeah, whatever you do, don't google it!" Well, guess what he did? :P Then, to make awkward awkwarder, he told the story at a breakfast table full of guys and girls two weeks later. O.o"

What? I don't think I know any 20 something men who don't at least have a passing acquaintance with with PMS is - even if their only knowledge is as the subject of a joke. Anyway it made me wonder: what other big gaps might fundies have in their knowledge base.

[EmiGirl]

My husband was almost 30 when we got married and had never heard of PMS.

[Trynn]

One time, when one of my friends was canvassing (going door to door selling Christian literature. In the program, all the students doing it lived under one roof) and this one girl was on the floor moaning about having cramps. One of the guys was really alarmed, and wanted to know what was wrong with her.

"Nothing," she said, "it's just my period."

This only added to the poor man's confusion. He had no idea what periods were!

My friend isn't sure how old the guy was, but she thinks he was 18-22 ish. Definitely old to at least know what a period is, even if he's not aware that for some women it's painful.

[crazyforkate]

I've definitely met grown men who don't believe that women fart/poop. Most weren't fundie, however.

[Claddagh]

I've definitely met grown men who don't believe that women fart/poop. Most weren't fundie, however.

I've encountered those types too. In one class one guy was horrified to learn what women's breasts were made of.

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BTW, icon love! I love Downton Abbey.

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[Arete]

I have had to explain certain "gaps" in female knowledge to a set of cousins who do not have sisters. They are as far from fundie as you can get, but I definitely remember explaining what PMS stands for, not to mention the various layers in a manicure. :lol:

[RachelB]

I've definitely met grown men who don't believe that women fart/poop. Most weren't fundie, however.

There's a poem about that! :D The lover gets grossed out when he realized that his lady, in whose room he's snooping, isn't naturally tweezed, clean, and sweet-smelling. And then he discovers that she has a chamber pot, poor dear, and that she actually uses it.

So things, which must not be expressed,

When plumped into the reeking chest,

Send up an excremental smell

To taint the parts from whence they fell.

The petticoats and gown perfume,

Which waft a stink round every room.

Thus finishing his grand survey,

Disgusted Strephon stole away

Repeating in his amorous fits,

Oh! Celia, Celia, Celia shits!

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/180934

[bananacat]

Honestly, there's so much misconception about PMS and there are probably more people who are wrong about it than right, that I would love to live in a world where nobody ever heard of it.

Sort of related, during college in 2008 one boy said he didn't want Hilary Clinton to win the the Democratic primary because if she became president then she might get irrational during that time of month and bomb someplace. Ok, first of all that's sexist as fuck, especially after GWB had bombed plenty of places irrationally. But also, Clinton was surely well past menopause by that point and probably hadn't ovulated in nearly a decade. So I don't know if this boy just never thought it through, or if he just didn't realize that ovulation and therefore PMS stops after menopause.

[Rescinded and Mended]

I've definitely met grown men who don't believe that women fart/poop. Most weren't fundie, however.

Okay, I can truthfully say that I've never once met a man who wasn't aware that women are capable of and do perform the same bodily excretory functions that men do (at least when it comes to voiding the bladder and bowels). I can honestly say that I have learned something new on Free Jinger this week! :P

[Rescinded and Mended]

I invited a male friend of mine to a party at my house once. Somehow, we got onto the subject of vasectomies. He is an engineer at Nasa and well into his 30s, and had never before heard of such a thing.

My other friend knew all about the procedure since she had actually watched a vasectomy being done on her husband. She proceeded to explain, in graphic detail, how it was done.

My poor guy friend was so shocked, he walked out that night looking like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle.

[pamplemousse]

Speaking of periods -- contrary to what fundies might think, using a tampon does not cause a woman to lose her virginity. Only by having sex does that happen.

[fundyfunland]

I've definitely met grown men who don't believe that women fart/poop. Most weren't fundie, however.

I prefer to keep it that way, and ditto for the guys I date, you know, until the inevitable fart in bed a month or two into the relationship. That's just me though, and I realize there's absolutely nothing wrong with farting, and I'd actually love to not be embarrassed to take a big poop when I'm at a guy's place.

On the matter of PMS, WTF? Really? How do these guys not get the very basic anatomy education?? I mean, I went to a Catholic school & we only got the "this is what puberty is. This is what pregnancy is. This is how much pregnancy hurts. Don't do it!" BUT, we still, sure as hell knew what periods were! And the guys in my class knew who had already gotten their periods!

BTW...I get the worst PMS ever. I don't care. I sort of apologize, but whatever. It's my time of the month for letting it all out. And, for god's sake, I'm bleeding out of my vagina! I'm allowed to be bitchy at times!

[Miggy]

I read somewhere that a lot of fundy guys don't know women have pubic hair/underarm hair/leg hair and are shocked on their wedding night. I remember the writer blaming a culture where they are never taught anything, never see their own sisters/friends but do see billboards with model who are waxed, shaved, made up and photoshopped. It is the only guide some of these lads have to what a woman actually looks like.

I can't remember where I read this, sorry.

[Andromeda]

Okay, I can truthfully say that I've never once met a man who wasn't aware that women are capable of and do perform the same bodily excretory functions that men do (at least when it comes to voiding the bladder and bowels). I can honestly say that I have learned something new on Free Jinger this week! :P

A corollary: I've met grown men who think women pee and poop through the vag.

[courtlylove]

I've been a lurker for a little while, but just couldn't let this thread go. Quite a few years ago my siblings and I (all adults) were swapping jokes. "What's the difference between a pub and the clitoris?" asked one brother. "Ninety-nine percent of men know where the pub is" is the answer. My youngest brother's then fiancé (now wife) asked "What's a clitoris?" She wasn't/isn't a fundy - just a 'good' catholic!

[ILoveJellybeans]

I heard a story once about a man who was incredibly suprised when changing his newborn daughter's diaper, as his mother had told him that women did not grow vaginas until they were married to prevent him from wanting to have sex before marriage.

Ive known several people who did not know that women had more than one hole down there, and had been removing their tampons to pee for years.

As for common knowledge that isnt common for fundies:

Evolution is real

Most women are sexual beings and can be just as horny as men.

Most men are not one view of a womans knee away from being a rapist.

Atheists have morals

Virginity isnt as special as they think it is, and you cant look at someone and tell whether they are a virgin or not (unless youre nine months pregnant, as that is a reliably good indicator)

When you are 18, you are an adult and dont have to obey exactly what your parents say-you can go off to college, move out, do whatever you like

Babies are not evil, theyre just new and dont understand how the world works yet and have no way of communicating other than crying.

[anachronistic]

I think that we all have some random gaps in knowledge that we just never picked up on, missed that day in school, never made the connection, etc. Example: I'm from Boston. I honestly didn't know until I was in college that jaywalking had a name or was illegal. To me it was just crossing the street. And we all have words that we suddenly hear and say What? I've been pronouncing that word wrong for 30 years and nobody told me?

I think where fundies differ is that their lack of knowledge comes from being deliberately denied access to that knowledge, or being deliberately mislead by their parents about what is and isn't true. They are also not taught the critical thinking necessary to fill in the gaps, so if they do leave the lifestyle they must be very confused about how the world works in general. It must be odd - to have areas of knowledge but no connections between them. To know that C is true, but not seeing any connection from it to A and B and the rest of history/science.

[debrand]

Talking to a dad at a conference and he says, "My wife and daughter..." and you ask, "Oh, how old is she?" And he looks at you surprised, "How old is my wife??" No, no.... how old is your daughter.... *blush*

Um....fundies are dumb. However, the guy might have been joking. I think that is one thing that might not be common for fundies, knowing when people are joking.

[salex]

I read somewhere that a lot of fundy guys don't know women have pubic hair/underarm hair/leg hair and are shocked on their wedding night. I remember the writer blaming a culture where they are never taught anything, never see their own sisters/friends but do see billboards with model who are waxed, shaved, made up and photoshopped. It is the only guide some of these lads have to what a woman actually looks like.

I can't remember where I read this, sorry.

years ago, when I was first married, I learned that a friend of my husband's had broken up with a girl because she had hairs on her breasts/nipples (some of you will know what I'm referring to, hard to describe). I told him that in my dorm there had been a discussion of "pluck or shave" nipple hairs and he was shocked that his former girlfriend had not been some kind of freak--and sort of embarrassed that he had broken up with her for something "normal." (God, we were young) He hadn't told her the reason was a bit of hair.

In the 70s, I think it would have been hard for anyone not to know about armpit and leg hair, as there were enough women who didn't shave anything running around in shorts or skirts and tank or halter tops.

[Phukktifano]

A married female friend who confessed tearfully that she wasn't able 'to close up" her vagina tight enough to keep her husbands seed from leaking out which was preventing her from getting pregnant and had to be told by a doctor that women can't do that. (homeschooled)

Yes I too have had friends who didn't know girls don't pee and give birth from the same hole. I also have had (female!) friends who thought they peed from their clitoris and that's what it was for.

A male friend who legitimately thought all adult female breasts are constantly full of milk and that we could just pass a hungry baby around.(public school)

A male friend who thought tampons "stopped the period" and that women used them to stimulate sex with a male which apparently tricked the body into thinking she was trying to get pregnant and would "stop the period" (religious)

Only the last one was really religious though most of them were sheltered or not highly educated. That's not even getting into the weird sexual misconceptions from some of them over the years.

[bananacat]

I prefer to keep it that way, and ditto for the guys I date, you know, until the inevitable fart in bed a month or two into the relationship. That's just me though, and I realize there's absolutely nothing wrong with farting, and I'd actually love to not be embarrassed to take a big poop when I'm at a guy's place.

On the matter of PMS, WTF? Really? How do these guys not get the very basic anatomy education?? I mean, I went to a Catholic school & we only got the "this is what puberty is. This is what pregnancy is. This is how much pregnancy hurts. Don't do it!" BUT, we still, sure as hell knew what periods were! And the guys in my class knew who had already gotten their periods!

BTW...I get the worst PMS ever. I don't care. I sort of apologize, but whatever. It's my time of the month for letting it all out. And, for god's sake, I'm bleeding out of my vagina! I'm allowed to be bitchy at times!

How could the boys possibly know which girls got their periods?

Also, you're completely wrong about PMS, which really isn't surprising in our society. It's call Pre Menstrual Syndrome. For the women who get it (most don't), it happens before the the blood flows, around ovulation. If you are bitchy during your bleeding, it isn't because of PMS.

[OkToBeTakei]

I went out with a guy who thought WC meant ladies toilet for some bizarre reason. He was not fundie, just thick :lol:

[bananacat]

Deleted bc I misread.

[fundyfunland]

How could the boys possibly know which girls got their periods?

Also, you're completely wrong about PMS, which really isn't surprising in our society. It's call Pre Menstrual Syndrome. For the women who get it (most don't), it happens before the the blood flows, around ovulation. If you are bitchy during your bleeding, it isn't because of PMS.

Thanks for clearing that up. I had no idea PMS stood for pre-menstrual syndrome :roll: I certainly am bitchy for a few days before and a couple days after my period starts. I also tend to gain anywhere between 5-10lbs of fluid retention during that time. It takes a couple days after my period starts for everything to go back to normal. I have no mood fluctuations around the time of ovulation.

As for the boys knowing which girls had started there periods, well, girls talk in the schoolyard, especially when they start to get their periods. We all wanted to know "did you get it yet?" It was sort of an exciting thing for us to talk about. As it happens, that information tended to get passed around to the boys in class, so that's how they knew.

[OkToBeTakei]

Thanks for clearing that up. I had no idea PMS stood for pre-menstrual syndrome :roll: I certainly am bitchy for a few days before and a couple days after my period starts. I also tend to gain anywhere between 5-10lbs of fluid retention during that time. It takes a couple days after my period starts for everything to go back to normal. I have no mood fluctuations around the time of ovulation.

As for the boys knowing which girls had started there periods, well, girls talk in the schoolyard, especially when they start to get their periods. We all wanted to know "did you get it yet?" It was sort of an exciting thing for us to talk about. As it happens, that information tended to get passed around to the boys in class, so that's how they knew.

:lol:

I thought it was PMT!!! I must be so out of touch.

Count me in with those with severe woe is me and don't EVEN look at me about 2-3 days before my period until about day 2-3. Why is it still a lightbulb moment when my period starts I am like...OH of course. Can't say I have ever been up nor down around ovulation, bit frisky but that's the point eh? Saying that I'm now perpetually wanting to kill randomly as endo and pre-menopause do the happy duet dance.

I'm one of the few who do. Seems everybody I know is. Who are the most that don't? I wanna find them and KEEEEEEEELLLL them :lol: