{"id":17976,"date":"2011-08-24T11:24:23","date_gmt":"2011-08-24T01:24:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.booktopia.com.au\/?p=17976"},"modified":"2016-03-01T09:51:01","modified_gmt":"2016-02-29T23:51:01","slug":"mens-health-dont-laugh-this-is-serious","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/2011\/08\/24\/mens-health-dont-laugh-this-is-serious\/","title":{"rendered":"Men’s Health: Don’t laugh, this is serious…"},"content":{"rendered":"

A timely reminder of the dangers of man-flu, from a man who, after three days, rose again.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

(Question from Toni W, your female<\/em> editor:<\/strong> How did you get that huge rock away from the front of your cave?<\/em>)<\/p>\n

One of the strangest and least understood varieties of the flu virus is the man-flu. For many years, men who were unlucky enough to contract the illness were thought to have had a bog-standard flu. Their complaints, their miseries went unheeded. They were told, in no uncertain terms, to \u2018buck up.\u2019 Wives, lovers, mothers, sisters, female friends and work colleagues alike treated their suffering menfolk with a cruel levity. We now know how wrong these women were. Shame, womenfolk, shame.<\/p>\n

\"\"Recent studies have revealed what men with the dreaded illness have always felt to be true. Namely, their suffering bore no resemblance to the inconsequential suffering of their womenfolk. Women with the flu, it was noted, could, and often did, manage to get on with their day. They would complete chores, meet deadlines, go to work, drive, get amorous, in short, seem utterly unaffected by the virus they were carrying. While men with the flu were totally incapacitated.<\/p>\n

Scientists have discovered a reason for this. Man-flu is a potent strain of the flu virus which women cannot contract. I quote at length from a recently published paper on the subject:<\/p>\n

\u201cLike most recessive sex-linked, X chromosome disorders, man-flu is more likely to occur in males than females. This is because females have two X chromosomes while males have only one, so the defective gene is guaranteed to manifest in any male who carries it. Because females have two X chromosomes and man-flu is rare, the chance of a female having two defective copies of the gene is very low, so females are almost exclusively asymptomatic carriers of the disorder. Female carriers can inherit the defective gene from either their mother or father, or it may be a new mutation. Only under rare circumstances do females contract man-flu – none have been known to survive.<\/em>\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(Ed.’s comment:<\/strong> cite your reference please! Nature? The New Scientist?)<\/em><\/p>\n

These findings come too late for many sufferers of man-flu. For though the virus is not fatal and men do eventually recover, men who suffered while the world was ignorant of the true nature of the virus will always bear the psychological scars inflicted by the taunts and cruelties of their womenfolk.<\/p>\n

(Ed.’s comment:<\/strong> Phu-leese. Try 27 hours of labour!)<\/em><\/p>\n

Some women may dispute these findings, but I say to them, look into your hearts, what have men to gain from trying deceive you? Your cruel jests? Your disdain? Your laughter? Your rolling eyes? Your half-hearted expressions of concern? Your disbelieving shakes of the head? Those snatches of conversation overheard wherein their pain is the subject of shared feminine mirth?<\/p>\n

Share your experiences of man-flu with me. I\u2019m happy to hear from the sufferer and from those who treated the sufferer cruelly. Confess your sins, womenfolk, it will make you feel better.<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Ed.’s comment:<\/strong> Feeling better? Don’t bother coming back into the office!)<\/em><\/p>\n

——————————————–<\/p>\n

UPDATE: Since posting this piece new evidence has come to light – video evidence<\/strong><\/p>\n