Women Share Pervasive Myths About Womenhood That Are Totally False and Infuriating

Robin Zlotnick - Author
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Dec. 31 2019, Updated 1:42 p.m. ET

women myths
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Women deal with a lot. There are so many pervasive myths that people accept as true about all women when they are actually completely made up. And we're sick of men and even other women perpetuating these stereotypes. So the women of Reddit gathered to share the myths about women that infuriate them to no end. It's time to set the record straight once and for all.

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1. Disliking other women

women myths
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Women dislike women for all different kinds of reasons, just as men can dislike other men and all genders can dislike each other. But, as Mishy-P points out, when women don't like other women, it's assumed it's because they're "jealous" of each other. Newsflash: we have lots of other emotions!!

2. Maternity leave

women myths
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Pinkblossom331 wants to set the record straight about the idea that "maternity leave is basically vacation." It's a necessary period of recovery for someone whose body has been through intense trauma. The fact that parental leave isn't standard and like, six months long at least, is a travesty.

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3. Snoring

women myths
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Apparently, people believe that women don't snore. JARlash wants to bust that myth. I am living proof that women snore. I do it all the time. And I'm proud of it.

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4. Hanging with friends

women myths
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It's such a movie cliché that women get upset when their significant others are out hanging with friends and not at home snuggling with them. Totesmagotes69 and I want everyone to know that we love for our partners to have their own social lives the same way we have our own. 

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5. Born to be mothers

women myths
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There is a harmful and still near-universal perception that all women "love children and have a knack for them," as Laughtermedicine writes. It's just not true! Women aren't specifically suited for motherhood because of their biology. And a woman who doesn't have kids isn't any less of a woman (or a person!!) than a woman who does have kids. And that's the truth.

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6. Pockets

women myths
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The size of pockets in women's clothing is a straight-up crime. Minemose wants everyone to know that women need pockets just as much as everyone else. We're just, for some reason, not allowed to have them.

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7. Dream wedding

women myths
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Sure, some women do dream of their wedding from the time they're little. But Smurff833 makes it clear that that's not the case for many women. I know I never thought about what my potential wedding would look like until I was in college at least. And some women never want to get married at all! And that's just fine.

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8. All the same

women myths
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Chocopinkie wants to make people aware that not every woman is the same. People think that women experience life the same way, that "we all like the same things. That every period is the same. Every childbirth is the same. That if one woman says periods hurt and one says it doesn't, one of us has to be lying." All bodies are totally different. It shouldn't be hard to wrap your head around the idea that all women are different.

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9. Bathroom lines

women myths
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Are lines for women's bathrooms generally longer? Yes. But emilyjford993 says it's not because we are slow and vain. "It's because we have to sit every time unlike you and wipe and it takes a lot longer and some women have to get undressed to do so, also not even to mention how time consuming periods can be." The entire world is designed against women. 

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10. Makeup and nice clothes

women myths
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Believe it or not, when a woman wears makeup or nice clothes, it's not because she wants to impress you or wants extra attention, as LevelHeadedPsycho2 says. It's for her, not for you!

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11. Gift giving

women myths
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So many of Jaggartex's guy friends ask her what to get as gifts for the women in their lives, and she's sick of it! Believe it or not, women have interests that are personal to them. Men should learn what those interests are. As she writes, "We're not all the same. There is no generic Female Gift. We are different people with different likes and tastes." It's almost like women are... people.

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12. Girly-girls

women myths
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Jackssssssssssssssss is sick and tired of people thinking that girly-girls who like pink are "dumb" or "annoying." Luckily, Elle Woods showed demonstrated this for us perfectly in Legally Blonde

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13. Housework

women myths
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Ireallylovemypeaches wants you to know that housework is not somehow the responsibility of women only. We do the vast majority of it because, if we don't, it doesn't get done, not because it is somehow inherent to our being. 

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14. Too emotional

women myths
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Captainpotty is sick of the pervasive notion that women are "irrational, emotional thinkers." Some men get angry over the dumbest stuff. They literally start wars because of their egos. So if we're going to lean on generalities, it's probably the other way around.

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15. Cat ladies

women myths
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It's annoying to TheVsArt-andStuff that only women are seen as the appropriate people to be cat lovers. There are plenty of dudes who own and love cats, and the "cat lady" trope is disrespectful, harmful, and honestly, just untrue.

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