Pelican:"I have often defended men against a tirade of one-sided comments by some feminists and, while not perfect, try to keep an egalitarian an even-handed perspective."

Oh I agree, which is why I find it so interesting when you find yourself knee-jerking to a comment like James's or mine. Why do you find discussions of the biological differences between genders so confronting to you personally?

Pelican:"Comments like "hormone soaked" drip too easily from your keyboard"

Actually, "hormone-soaked nightmare" was my ex's self-description. She was very aware of the problem but it was beyond her ability to do much about it.

And please, don't try the "we are all individuals" stuff. Men have testicles and penises, women have ovaries and vaginas. These are not trivial differences and trying to pretend otherwise is not being "even-handed", it's denying reality.

Yes, there is a vast range of expressions of "femaleness" and "maleness", but males are not prone to a monthly cycle and "male menopause" is a simply a slow reduction in the level of testosterone, not a relatively sudden change that means he can no longer reproduce and is no longer subject to those monthly cycles.

The idea that the biological differences between the genders are not important is simply bizarre and flies in the face of reality.

On the subject of PMS, I'll bet that everyone here has a horror story to recount. No exceptions, male or female. That makes it a pervasive issue, not an individual aberration.

In some women, it is almost like living with a short-cycle bipolar sufferer - one never knows exaclty when the swing will come, but you know it's coming.

Forget monthly! How luxurious! Try 12 months non-stop Antiseptic and I have not been murdered yet......

Anti:”… with one notable exception, have seen little reason to modify their expression of the hormones that flood their body once a month.”

I thought it was male hormones that caused irrational and aggressive behavior and that they were pumped out pretty constantly throughout life in men? Ooo… and I have seen what aggressive behaviors testosterone shots cause in females... talk about loony.

I’m lacking a uterus (I know, probably too much information there) but still have ovaries that are flooding my body once a month with whatever and notice that without any visible sign of a hormone change taking place there is no pattern to anything and my moods are reactive to situations which I am guessing is pretty normal for most people.

I had heard of the after pregnancy hormones causing amnesia and all that…weird stuff hormones but the PMT thing… I either don’t believe it or suspect it affects only a tiny percentage of females. If hormones really did alter us mentally then those mums that kill kids would ALL rightly get off based on which part of a 28 day cycle they were in?

Anti your ex could have done something about it – she chose not to is all.

So we should acknowledge these biological differences but the law isn’t allowed/able to?

Glad you are still with us we-are-unique. :)

We are unique - "Experience is quite different from 'knowledge' ChazP".
You are quite right We are unique. And the main ways of gaining excperience are 'Sitting next to Nellie', so you learn all of Nellie's bad habits and inappropriate work methods. Secondly, it is learning by Trial and Error. And who suffers for your errors?. Do you in fact know when you have erred?. Surgeons can bury their mistakes but when you mess up other people's lives by your incompetence, they have to live with it for the rest of their lives, while you just move on to the next one. How many people's lives have you messed up We are Unique, with your `experienced' methodology?. `Experience' is only a statement of chronological activity - it has no meaning or value unless it can be shown that learnning and change has emerged from gathering such experience - sadly, We are Unique that is not evident in your statements.
Simply learning by experience is dismissing the great value to be gained in learning from the knowledge and learning experiences of others.
Your claim to speak for all Australians shows the level of your conceit We are Unique. There are some Australians however, such as yourself, who don't bother to learn from others, simply because "Its all about experience".
I'd suggest your mantra is "Go Nellie and who cares whose lives I mess up!".

Thank you most kindly Jewely LOL - addressed my gyneacological problemo last week (Halleluia) after awaiting a pelvic ultrasound.

Thank you to Anti for raising these issues.

I discovered that many pre-menopausal women are having the 'Mirena' inserted [oestrogen coated plastic little IUD] or going on the Pill with breaks in between for health/safety if bleeding profusely.

Am only adding this info for people [women and partners knowledge]that may fit the criteria now that Anti has raised the cycles.

Happy New Year to all - life is short - enjoy your breaks!

Chaz, at the end of the day adults and parents make their own decisions via their own experiences.

Cotter, her daughter and Jacksun will make their own decisions regardless of any opinions or strategies offered on any forum.

Positive strategies offered for strengthening a 'mother' will hardly wreck lives, and by the way, I have participated on OLO for 12 months and do not skip on my merry way after offering positive strategies regarding serious situations.

I follow through with my interactions when possible, unless there is a person who deliberately takes up most of the threads with the sole purpose of degrading another, born out of their own insecurities or holding a grudge.

Happy New Year.