Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

iliveoffofbagels t1_ixxjkvu wrote

Small area to work wit... there's a uterus pressing up behind it, with a rectum psuhing pushing against the back of the uterus. Needless to say, when there is a baby in there it sucks. And this is all worsened by a short urethra and weakened pelvic floor muscles following child birth. There is very little wiggle room, unlike with dudes who don't have an extra structure in there and a much longer urethra.

14

queensg28 t1_ixx1abl wrote

Because everything for Women is connected. It's all internal. Anus, pelvic floor, vagina, uretha. It's all connected. Like a web. If one part of the web is too weak or its hurt (like after having a baby), it impacts the other connected strands.

For guys, it's external and separate. Less connections. Penis and uretha is separate from testicles which are separate from anus. Also, not having babies sitting on a bladder 9months and not having to push anything out is a big factor too lol

A common fear women have during birth is that they'll poo on the table. It's actually encouraged by health professionals because if you're pushing enough to feel that sensation, you're using the right muscles and pushing the right way. Again - all connected.

7

-WhatCouldGoWrong t1_ixx20zf wrote

dated a few ladies who had kids previously and when they had to pee they had to fucking pee

​

mad respect to women, everything you described happens far beyond birth but they just get on with it and put up with more shit than us men will ever know

27

xjsscx t1_ixx2idl wrote

Willingly, it’s no secret what can happen with and after birth most just ignore it and complain later

−2

kenhutson t1_ixx3e7c wrote

This is nonsense. The muscles controlling urine flow in men are not in their penis lol! They are in the same place as they are for women - at the bladder neck. And testicles have nothing to do with urine.

18

Applejuiceinthehall t1_ixx74h8 wrote

There are two sphincters in the urethra one where the urethra leaves the bladder and one at the pelvic floor. The first one is under involuntary control the second one is voluntary control.

It is silly to say that men's pelvic floor isn't connected. However the pelvic floor does weaken after giving birth

7

pdpi t1_ixxzg1b wrote

Thats the point — the uterus also has nothing to do with urine, but actually does interfere with how often women have to pee.

Men’s reproductive organs don’t interfere with their urinary tract because they’re external (except for the prostate, which does join in on the bladder-bothering fun as men get older).

Women’s reproductive organs do interfere with the urinary tract because they’re internal, so they apply pressure on the bladder and just generally take up space that would otherwise be occupied by the urinary system and other internal organs.

I do mean that last bit literally — a friend of mine had a hysterectomy, and it took some time for her innards to adjust to the extra space.

1

Czl2 t1_ixx5gjh wrote

Agreed. Men can just open their zipper. For women (as many things pertaining to their bodies) it's more hassle so they need to think ahead. Could be why many women are better at this than men.

EDIT: Do women not have more hassle with peeing, monthly mensuration, risk of pregnancy, actual pregnancy, giving birth, breast feeding, menopause, … ? Also being the physically smaller and weaker sex tasked with child rearing would evolution of sex differences in the species not predict women to have better forward thinking? When you see /r/whatcouldgowrong videos of people doing dumb stuff what is the ratio of men vs. women being dumb in these videos? Who lives longer lives? How do you explain it? No possible connection women being women and men being men?

−2

pdpi t1_ixy1gfj wrote

There are almost certainly differences in behaviour like what you’re describing that are just down to biological differences. However, you need to be really careful analysing that sort of thing, because culture and societal norms play a massive role in moulding behaviour, and completely drown out the biological differences.

By way of example, you get a lot of US-based people arguing that men are just better at STEM topics than women, but my university (in Portugal) didn’t really match that at all. Overall there were more males than females, but the difference wasn’t anywhere near as big as in the US.

Then you could really see the cultural effects and biases at the department level — maths and physics departments were pretty balanced between genders (both in terms of students and lecturers), electrotechnical engineering and mechanical engineering were almost completely male-dominated, while chemistry and chemical engineering were female-dominated. Biomedical engineering and architecture were female-heavy, but to a much smaller extent.

3

Czl2 t1_iy1jgw1 wrote

> culture and societal norms play a massive role in moulding behaviour, and completely drown out the biological differences.

See:

https://www.reddit.com/r/TwoXChromosomes/comments/z6h0fu/stats_came_out_that_out_of_606_mass_shootings_in/

Do you disbelieve these statistics?

Could this be "Objective Example #3" that it is NOT true that "culture and societal norms play a massive role in moulding behaviour, and completely drown out the biological differences"?

Replace your word completely with say 50-60% and we would be closer to agreement about the situation today.

What about the future?

Men and women continue to gain ever greater control over their bodies via technology. We already see the impact birth control technology has. Now imagine technology to control your own "dimorphic temperament" (ie behavioral differences between men and women) or technology to genuinely change your sex or even migrate between bodies as you might switch cars today.

In such a future clearly "culture and societal norms play a massive role in moulding behaviour" because the "biological differences" that exist today will start to cease to exist. I think few can imagine how interesting that future might be much like African nomads from thousands of years ago could not imagine our reality today.

1

Czl2 t1_ixyadke wrote

I agree with you perhaps ~80%

Since I enjoy provoking people to think I will make some remarks about what you said to see how you react to them.

> However, you need to be really careful analysing that sort of thing,

/r/ExplainLikeImFive is for those who want a simplified analysis, is it not?

What is the context for this conversation?

> because culture and societal norms play a massive role in moulding behaviour, and completely drown out the biological differences.

What place on planet earth are you describing?

The biological differences that I listed are: “hassle with peeing, monthly mensuration, risk of pregnancy, actual pregnancy, giving birth, breast feeding, menopause”, also “physically smaller and weaker sex”, and “living longer”

Surely these biological differences exist in Portugal do they not? Did you really mean to say that ‘culture and societal norms … completely drown out the biological differences’? You strike as a smart person. Surely you are exaggerating or meant something else by your words. People often believe to be true what they prefer to be true. Perhaps what you wrote is what you prefer to be true (even if it is not true)? That I can understand. I would also prefer what you wrote to be true.

> By way of example, you get a lot of US-based people arguing that men are just better at STEM topics than women, but my university (in Portugal) didn’t really match that at all. Overall there were more males than females, but the difference wasn’t anywhere near as big as in the US.

“By way of example, most will argue that women are just better at wearing skirts than men, but opinion in my Irish town (where kilts are popular) doesn’t really match that at all.”

The academic preference examples you shared depend on subjective judgement much like what clothes you pick and how others judge you for it. What I am trying to show with my imperfect example above is that what culture is and what people argue is somewhat arbitrary and varies from place to place. I prefer objective examples and will share two objective examples below for you to think about.

First a fact about men vs women: the difference on average is tiny. Most men and women are close to average and there isn’t much difference between them and you can find plenty of examples with one or the other being better at X or taller, thinner, smaller... That said the tiny difference in the averages however makes a huge difference in the tails of the distribution. Shift a normal distribution by a tiny amount and compare the area under the curve above a high threshold before and after your shift. Ever try that? What happens? You see this difference in the tails in many places.

Objective Example #1: On average the best men are objectively far better then the best women at most (but not all) physical activities such as sports. Would you apply your “culture and societal norms play a massive role in moulding behaviour, and completely drown out the biological differences” explanation to physical sports? What do you predict would happen if gender specific competitions were merged? Do you think gender specific competition is due to left over sexism? Likely not.

Objective Example #2: The other place I see large men vs women gap is in the videos of people doing dumb stuff. You can see such videos all over the internet and /r/whatcouldgowrong collects them. They show the riskiest of the risky, most dangerous of the dangerous. the dumbest of the dumb. Men dominate in these video clips. Here too do you think ‘culture and societal norms … completely drown out the biological differences’? Are men doing dangerous, risky, dumb stuff around the world due to culture? Do you think their mothers teach them that culture? Do you think their wives and sisters promote that culture? Where does that culture come from? What does that tell you about men?

What is your “really careful analysis” of these two examples?

EDIT: Spelling.

0

Eastofdark t1_ixx3mxk wrote

This is misleading. In women everything is separate, unlike men. Separate vaginas and urethra and of course separate anus. But they are all close together, and pregnancy and birth puts massive stress on the area and on the pelvic floor muscles. When these muscles are stretched from birth, and in combination with hormones at birth that allow the stretching of pelvic ligaments, a woman can end up with a weak bladder. There is no good reason for women who have not been pregnant, or especially given birth, to have particularly weak bladders compared to men. Women are always more subject to bladder infections though as the tubes that connect the outside with the bladder, the urethra is very short in women compared to that of men which runs the entire length of the penis, so bacteria can get into the bladder much more easily.

11

Valiantheart t1_ixx76dj wrote

I've known 3 separate early 20s, childless women who've pissed themselves laughing. There's more to it than kids weakening the plumbing.

11

JackkPat t1_ixxs8ht wrote

I’m no expert but I would say the shorter urethra could explain that. Their urine only has to travel ~1.5 inches (female) as opposed to ~15 inches (male).

3

Rayne_K t1_ixy726s wrote

That is the explanation I have heard.

4

RevealStandard3502 t1_ixxcnn9 wrote

As a woman who had fibroids and then a hysterectomy I can tell you that giving birth are not the only reasons for weak pelvic floor and poor bladder control. Obesity is a factor as well in bladder issues. Women have a lot going against them in that area.

4

Eastofdark t1_ixxyuzv wrote

Fair enough. Sorry for your troubles.

1

RevealStandard3502 t1_ixy0w2s wrote

Thanks. It's hard to talk about in person, so I get a little passionate about it online. Or defensive. You know embarrassing and all that.

1

Eastofdark t1_ixyg2k2 wrote

Yes I don't think we know how common this sort of thing is because we are discouraged from when we are little from talking about "women's problems". Miscarriages are another one. So much more common than people realise. You have nothing to be embarrassed about. I will try to be more aware that women have these issues for other reasons than childbirth (so much for intelligent design).

2

Tibbaryllis2 t1_ixxzd3z wrote

Imagine one of those firm silicone straws. While someone is drinking from the straw, try to stop them by only being able to pinch the straw with your pinky and thumb in one small space. Now try to stop them by being able to grab the whole straw with your whole hand.

Women, generally, have a short urethra with weaker muscles. Men have a longer urethra with stronger muscles.

Women also have smaller bladders, and the muscles involved in their urinary track serve additional roles with the uterus and anus.

3

crazyhadron t1_ixy08l8 wrote

Because, when you look at the female anatomy, you see that the uterus/womb is basically a grapefruit-sized balloon sitting right on top of the bladder, with the mouth running down to the vagina like a long tube. I bet that puts a fair bit of extra pressure on the bladder, especially when they move around or jump.

1

Flair_Helper t1_ixyshg6 wrote

Please read this entire message

Your submission has been removed for the following reason(s):

Loaded questions are not allowed on ELI5. A loaded question is one that posits a specific view of reality and asks for explanations that confirm it. A loaded question, by definition, presumes that something must be true in order for the question to stand.

If you would like this removal reviewed, please read the detailed rules first. If you believe this submission was removed erroneously, please use this form and we will review your submission.

1

TemporaryGuidance1 t1_ixxlzv8 wrote

A woman’s urinary anatomy differs quite a bit from a males. A woman’s bladder is proportional smaller compared to a male because it has to accommodate for the uterus. A woman’s urethra is also shorter in length so holding pee is less effective and accidental leaks can happen.

0

magipod t1_ixy10ni wrote

Try filling your mouth with water and then trying to push it out through a straw. Now try cutting 4/5 of the straw off, and repeat the experiment with the much shorter straw. Barely any pressure is needed for the short straw while you'll find it requires a bit more pressure with the longer straw. In a sense, males need to push a bit more to overcome the pressure, while females may end up with the same results from just allowing their muscles to relax.

For the non-ELI5 answer: Female urethra is generally a fifth of the length of the male urethra. In addition, the rhabdosphincter (external sphincter muscle for urethra) is significantly thinner in females. Because of the above stated, females would require less pressure to void the bladder.

Here is a relatively new (within the past 5 years) study talking about the differences between male and female lower urinary tract biology and physiology.

As well as the Wikipedia pages for both the male and female versions of the external sphincter muscles.

0