13 men share things they never knew about women until they got a girlfriend

Sex and relationships education might be able to teach us how the basics work, but sometimes, we don’t know the quirks until we start trying it ourselves.

And for many straight men, it wasn’t until they got a girlfriend for the first time that they learned things about the human anatomy we might consider basics, as well as crucial aspects of our personalities.

Sure, not all women are the same, and it’d be a grand generalisation to suggest that we were. Plus, it’s safe to say that for countless women who date them, men can also be utterly, utterly confusing.

But for all our individualities, there are some tropes that many of us ladies resonate with, some of which men are still gradually learning about through hands-on experiences with their partners.

Here are some of the discoveries men have admitted to making about women through dating them for the first time…

Foreplay

Now, we all know how important foreplay is. Neglecting it is like skipping the starter to go straight to the main course. And, of course, just foreplay alone still counts as sex – it’s not all about the penetration.

But for those who do partake in a bit of penis-in-vagina sex (equally achievable with strap-ons or vibrators), foreplay is essential as it sets the mood.

And crucially, clitoral stimulation is a non-negotiable for many people with vaginas, as one study found that just 6% of women can have an orgasm through just vaginal stimulation alone.

‘I can probably speak for the majority of men when I say porn conditioned us to think that the clit was some DJ set we had to scratch, when in reality most women can get off with way less than that,’ @Porongas1993 penned on one Reddit thread debating the matter.

‘My first partner taught me the secret is to apply the same amount of pressure you would as if you were rubbing your index and thumb together and wanted to feel your fingerprints.’

But for some men, getting a girlfriend for the first time taught them some crucial basics about anatomy, as @shak_0508 wrote: ‘the vagina is a lot lower down than you’d expect.’

This even provoked a response from one woman, as @tellmewhatyoulike chimed: ‘I’m a woman, but I’ve found many men don’t know that women don’t pee out of their vaginas, and that there is a separate hole for that.’

For others, they learned about the intricacies of penis-in-vagina sex, as @MindlessPut7675 wrote: ‘[I learned that] going deep isn’t great for all of them.’

Periods

Periods can be a hugely painful experience – one which men will never be able to understand for themselves, and that’s without diagnoses like PCOS or endometriosis.

But it’s not just the sheer scale of the pain some men have admitted not being accustomed to before their first relationship: the logistics have also proved a learning curve.

‘I thought maxi pads stuck to the skin I didn’t realize they stick to your underwear. I thought you slapped it on like a sticker,’ @cjwojoe admitted.

‘How being uncomfortable is a daily occurrence for them, whether be periods or clothes and makeup to look pretty or people bothering them, they seem to be in a constant stream of uncomfortableness,’ @TheWatermelonGuy added.

Emotional intelligence

Multiple studies have shown that women have a greater ability to express emotions – and that’s not to say that men aren’t always good at it, just that we’re more likely to be outward with our feelings.

However, this is something that one man didn’t realise until he got into his first relationship.

‘They have emotional spider senses. One woman I’m talking to, mid-conversation, caught onto a feeling I was having about something the moment it entered my skull from the ether, and she asked me about it. It was like having my mind read,’ @UnholySpigot shared.

‘When I met my wife, she put me back together piece by piece and made me want to be a better person. Showed patience when the storm was raging. Showed kindness when I was backed into a corner,’ another comment added.

Hair shedding

Naturally, there are some more comical learning curves that come with a first relationship – and many men never realised that being with a woman often comes with the hilarious experience of finding their hair. Literally. Everywhere.

‘[There are] two women in my house (wife and daughter) and once a month I have to pull a disgusting hairball the size of a large rat out of the shower drain. It’s like I live with Chewbacca,’ @JesseB342 recalled.

For @mackinoncougars, the hair situation gets so bad that it wraps around the ‘vacuum roller brush’ and subsequently, he has to ‘cut the hair out of it seasonally.’

‘The second you have a woman with long hair in your house its f***ing over,’ another joked. ‘There could be only two dates, [but] it doesn’t matter. Hair on the couch, hair on the ceiling fan, hair in my mouth when I wake up in the morning…hair everywhere.’

Shower preferences

It’s a fact many of us joke about, but some women seem to have a penchant for incredibly hot showers. What’s better than coming in after a long day at the office and warming up in the shower? Nothing, dear reader.

‘My wife’s shower seems permanently set at scalding. Washing the dishes – scalding! Bath water- scalding No sexy time in the shower here, I value not melting my skin,’ @forget_i_was_here admitted.

‘They love the water to be roughly the temperature of a freshly erupted volcano,’ said another, while someone else poetically penned: ‘My fellow men, when you spoon your wonderful female lover, she will reach an incredible temperature.

‘However, their feet are colder than the f***ing Northern Waste. Simply mind-boggling.’

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