This comment strikes me not only as extremely sexist, but also extremely perverse, as the term implies that a man is responding to a woman’s requests only because he wants access to that part of her body, thus being controlled by her “pussy,” to use Jim’s crude term. Applying that terminology to someone’s relationship with his daughter seems really sort of disturbing!

As for why men are embarrassed – I really can’t say! No, I’m not grossed out by a woman’s bodily fluids and discharges. And in fact I’ve been called an excellent lover by more than one woman. But tampons – I guess it’s socialization. They don’t even write the word ‘tampon’ on the box! I think my attitude toward it is similar to those women who feel embarrassed buying a box of condoms. I mean – what’s to be embarrassed about?

Finally, should a blog post stand on its own? Perhaps. But as a guest blogger, I had no intention of giving a bio or playing it safe. I wanted to write a humorous narrative that would make readers say, “who is this guy?” and come check out my blog. Seems to have worked!

Thanks for questioning me and my views. Everyone has their own perspective on things, and that’s why we all read each others blogs, I suppose.

I admit I did find this post surprisingly “neanderthal” compared to your usual writing, which I mostly like, enjoy, and agree with!

So I should have suspected it was meant to be humorous! Oh well, I guess it went over my head, sorry!

Just a few more comments, in the spirit of friendly debate and understanding:

First, shouldn’t each post stand alone? Isn’t that a better sign of “good writing” than just getting people riled up (which is pretty easy, as every blog troll knows)?

2nd, I guess I was kind of assuming that men who think tampons are embarrassing also think a woman’s normal bodily functions/smells/secretions are gross. And are therefore going to be really lousy lovers of women, hence my snarky comment (not meant seriously, BTW).

But maybe I was making too big of a leap there, and not accounting for the centuries of socialization that has led to menstruation being almost a taboo topic among both sexes. Maybe you don’t find women gross but you still find tampons embarrassing due to your socialization? I’m probably fairly clueless re the taboo, thanks to my happy hippie parents. Honestly, the acronym “TMI” was invented just to describe them. So I probably jumped on you too much there.

Finally, I do have to scold you on one thing! As the father of a teenage daughter you should have the foresight to already have a box of tampons (any kind!) in your house somewhere. Just like you’d stock your kids’ favorite breakfast cereal and make sure there’s some shampoo in the shower when they visit. It’s just polite and part of being a parent–a way to take care of your kid when she needs it.

Sure, she probably should “be prepared” and take care of it all by herself, but every woman knows that periods are unpredictable. That’s why every public woman’s restroom contains a machine that dispenses tampons (maybe you didn’t know that?)

And teenagers’ periods are notoriously irregular–meaning you can’t tell exactly when they’ll start/stop or how heavy the bleeding will be. And if you bleed more, you need more tampons. Now. And nothing is more embarrassing than bleeding through your jeans while you stand in line at the drugstore because you didn’t plan ahead.

So yes, you are a super Dad for manning up and buying the things when she asked (despite your embarrassment), but think about going the extra mile and keeping a box of them at your place, eh?

I bought the tampons, btw. And I’m not sure what buying my daughter tampons has to do with my love life. Also, the “retaliation” was a tongue in cheek joke. Sorry if you didn’t get that humor.

Do you see the youtube videos on my site w.r.t. this post? They both poke fun at guys who feel embarrassed or don’t want to buy tampons. I think it’s telling that I put those up on my own blog, making fun of myself. I think your judgement against me is a little misguided.

Cheers!

p.s. Check out the videos here…

http://dadshouseblog.com/2008/08/22/when-a-single-dads-daughter-needs-girl-stuff/

You sound like “ooo, gross, it has something to do with a woman’s private parts, how yucky!”

I think I’ve spotted the reason for your problems with your love life….

And it is seriously warped that you feel that you should “retaliate” by making your daughter buy you your condoms. Like tampons = helping your Dad having sex?

Dude, you are seriously messed up.