Man flu is real and proves that women don't have empathy for men.

Suspicious_Glove7365 · 2026-06-12T12:32:53+00:00

Sorry, when you say “man flu”, do you just mean…men who get the flu?

AnimalLoose2402 · 2026-06-12T15:36:03+00:00

Did you just compare pregnancy to a cold?

Crafty_Note397 · 2026-06-12T10:54:32+00:00

Because my period comes every month like clock work and men act like we don’t feel anything. I do the same job as my male colleagues popping ibuprofen with my uterus doing somersaults every freaking month. How often are you getting the flu?

GimmeDatPomegranate · 2026-06-12T11:19:49+00:00

Uhm, body aches, fatigue, and general malaise also occur for women when they get sick from the same viruses. That is not gender-specific. I'd like to see this research on testosterone weakening the immune system that you're speaking of.

myboobiezarequitebig · 2026-06-12T11:25:57+00:00

Doesn’t the shame stem from the fact that women with the same symptoms aren’t given the same grace to recover?

baller696969balls · 2026-06-12T11:52:44+00:00

I don’t think you realise “man flu” is a term for regular flu that has been catastrophised by a man

This-Register · 2026-06-12T12:24:39+00:00

Idk bro that sounds like a typical flu to me. Women can get that too yk

love_in_october · 2026-06-12T11:17:14+00:00

Women also get colds and flus and it wipes them out too. But they tend to still be expected to do some household duties with the same symptoms.

Women might be more sympathetic to men's pain if excruciating period pain wasn't dismissed as being "moody" and they weren't expected to carry on working as normal, and if they were believed by doctors and loved ones about pain rather than having it regularly belittled. They're just treating men the same as they would treat women when experiencing sickness.

Siukslinis_acc · 2026-06-12T13:07:47+00:00

I think the mocking of "man flu" is mainly because it is still expected from the woman do do the household chores and childcare stuff even if she has +38°C. So ot is more of a jealousy as you are allowed to stay in bed and get things brought to you, while the woman isn't allowed to stay in bed and have things brought to her.

BreakfastFearless · 2026-06-12T10:56:18+00:00

Why can’t you guys ever raise awareness about male problems without using it to tear down women’s problems.

You’re looking for support and then complain about how women “b1tch and moan” about their symptoms? You’re doing the exact thing you’re complaining about others doing to you

Also not sure where you’re getting that men are shamed for “man flu”?

the_scar_when_you_go · 2026-06-12T12:46:40+00:00

My sibling and I are cleaning house. They have EDS, which means their joints can partially dislocate just from reaching for something. I don't have that issue, but I do have a bum ankle from an accident like 6 yrs ago. Different issues.

They reach for something and their shoulder tries to jump ship. It's not an ER situation. I roll my eyes and say, "it's fine, it's normal for you."

Later, I step wrong and my ankle gives out. It's not an ER situation. They roll their eyes and say, "it's fine, it's normal for you."

I have two options.

I can decide that they're being a hypocrite, and I'm a victim. I can continue to be mean to them, to punish them for not doing what I've refused to do. I'll be nice once they show that they're a better person than me.

Or, I can recognize that I am being a hypocrite, and their comment was a critique of that. They were giving me a chance to realize that I was treating them in a way I don't wanna be treated. They don't have to be better than me to earn my compassion. They deserved it from the beginning, just like me.

If you understand that, then you understand the juxtaposition of the flu and gynocological issues.

Ftr, testosterone reduces immune function if you have high testosterone levels. The current research indicates that its function in avg cis men serves to reduce the prevalence of autoimmune disorders, and explains the fact that adult females and prepubescent males have the highest instance of allergies (which are immune system overreactions). That does not mean that the flu is a piece of cake for men. It does mean that it's much closer to the experience of women than behavior suggests.

ScorpioDefined · 2026-06-12T12:51:21+00:00

So when women want to b!tch and moan about periods or pregnancy hormones, and want support and empathy, they need to ask themselves, why do they deserve it when they couldn't give the same courtesy to a man.

Because we're still expected to take care of the kids and house when we're sick. And we do! We suck it up for our children.

When men get sick, they're not expected to do anything but lay there. While the women take care of everything.

Tess27795 · 2026-06-12T12:56:37+00:00

Men often play that they are tough and they are in control so when someone like that gets a cold and suffers, we can tease them. I still make him soup and work around him just like when I had cramps or other problems and he got me supplies if necessary and a heating pad.

Do you think men do not complain about women? Really none of us have halos so knock the one you think you have off your head.

Also, I can feel pretty crap when I have the flu too. If both of us are sick, I get up and do the cooking and necessary stuff.

Acrobatic-Monk9735 · 2026-06-12T13:23:58+00:00

Half the population (men) are not walking around immunocompromised due to testosterone. That is a wild and delusional take.

You have posted before that if a woman isn’t putting out enough, even if she has medical issues, then the man has the right to cheat with a hot young woman. If you expect women to put out even when sick, you can reasonably do stuff with the flu.

You also are a vocal advocate for nationally doing paternity tests on every baby born at the hospital. If men can hold up the process for obtaining a birth certificate and citizenship and put an extra burden on the medical system and add more complexities to health insurance because of a test they don’t want to do themselves at home, then they can put up with the flu.

GridReXX · 2026-06-12T13:24:50+00:00

The mocking comes from society and men expecting women to “long-suffer” as a default.

I grew up in church where people say women are dutiful long-sufferers as if it’s an honor lol.

I once saw a meme that emphasized this point. It was of a bald woman going through cancer radiation treatment, in pain, wrangling three kids, just got off work, has a cold, on her period, coming home to cook dinner for her husband and kids, and still “showing up for others.”

Many women deal with debilitating energy-sucking shit 24/7. We just kinda push through. So yeah of course they’re going to roll their eyes when a man gets a similar illness she just had and the world has to stop.

Edit: There was recently a video going viral of some Christian husband influencer bro praying over his wife who was on her period and also nursing her baby and other kids. He was praying that she pushes through the pain and remains “productive.” Basically that she suffers in silence and doesn’t skimp out of her duties to him during this time. So much for empathy! That prayer was for him. It was not comfort or care for her lol.

LillthOfBabylon · 2026-06-12T11:23:23+00:00

Aren’t men supposed to be taking accountability more than women? I’m not seeing that in this sub.

If accountability is supposed to be a masculine trait, why would women be attracted to men who don’t possess that trait?

Realistic-Ad-1023 · 2026-06-12T12:34:43+00:00

Man flu =\= actual influenza.

Man flu is the weaponization of feeling unwell by a man in order to get out of regular responsibilities.

Women aren’t allowed to exhibit this same behavior since if we don’t handle our responsibilities, they just won’t get done.

Actual influenza is horrible for men and women and kills millions of people a year.

TermAggravating8043 · 2026-06-12T11:23:30+00:00

Please link the science to prove this before any of us can take this post seriously

-mixedsignals · 2026-06-12T13:29:01+00:00

The problem is the double speech

On one hand men are heroic, go to war, they are the pillar of society

on the other hand men expect women to feel more empathy because they have a normal regular flu

Altruistic_Look_7868 · 2026-06-12T10:56:24+00:00

What do you mean men are getting shamed for being sick? Seriously, is your view that warped?

Poppy_Luvv · 2026-06-12T11:10:45+00:00

And what do men who live alone do when they get "man flu" ? Do they simply soil themselves and starve?

Or do they still do basic self-care and take care of basic responsibilities? Like basically everyone who is not a small child. You can be sick as a dog, but if you have a dog you still have to take care of it.

wtknight · 2026-06-12T11:50:40+00:00

[permanently deleted]

SnooCats37 · 2026-06-12T10:59:19+00:00

Men don’t get shamed for getting poorly or for resting when they are ill, they get shamed for not allowing their significant other time to recover when they are poorly too.

-Shes-A-Carnival · 2026-06-12T13:49:37+00:00

ESL morons, man flu is a joke that makes fun of how men act when theyre sick, its not some real thing. jesus christ how desperate are people to make posts now

howdoiw0rkthisthing · 2026-06-12T13:42:37+00:00

Buddy I don’t think you understand what the man flu is

EvaGenaMeana · 2026-06-12T13:54:35+00:00

I had to google “man flu” 😐

Tylikcat · 2026-06-12T16:09:01+00:00

Folks. Men do have weaker immune systems. The exact mechanism isn't known, though several have been proposed. (And while people are looking at testosterone, they're looking at female hormones as well. And also, the truncation of the Y chromosome, which is basically an X with a bunch cut off of it. It's know than the X chromosome is involved a bunch in immune regulation.) Think about it - if it were primarily about testosterone, you'd expect older men, who generally have less testosterone, to have stronger immune systems, but the evidence I've seen indicates the sex difference persists into older age.

This is a decent review: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31156632/ (This is something I've been following, if casually, for years.)

This isn't a one side thing, though. Men are more likely to get serious infections, women are more likely to have immune overreactions or develop auto-immune conditions. (As an aside, I think this rather undermines OP's point, as I have mostly seen women with auto-immune conditions being treated with scorn by men.)

It's interesting to think about what sort of natural selective tuning was going on, if this is a result of selective pressure. My heuristic tends to be that men are optimized for performance, and women are optimized for endurance (and survival, generally). But this isn't something anyone has done or chosen.

ihatesmelly · 2026-06-12T11:02:39+00:00

LMFAO it’s the same as a normal flu, if you test it’ll be positive for influenza A/B.

suck it up, testosterone doesn’t “weaken” the immune system and if that was the case men would be sick 24/7

Outside_Memory5703 · 2026-06-12T13:30:43+00:00

Let’s see this “science” then

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pico-sooooo · 2026-06-12T19:53:09+00:00

The major problem is that men are perceived to be this oppressor class that deserves to be knocked down a peg.

I understand that sentiment but when you just assume that all men are pricks and therefore deserve to be ridiculed like this it makes the good folks jaded at best or sends impressionable people down a tribal trench at worst.

Inb4: you’re only upset because you actually ARE a piece of shit.

Imagine saying something mean to someone and then implying that if it makes them sad that the person feeling sad is the asshole… that’s just middle school bully behavior.

TheCounsellingGamer · 2026-06-13T06:08:16+00:00

The term "man flu" has never referred to the actual flu. Proper influenza will knock anyone on their ass for at least a week. I've only had proper flu once, and my fever was so high that I genuinely thought I was on my way out, but I was too sick to give a shit.

If a man has the proper flu, with a temperature of 41°C, and he can't take a deep breath without hacking up a lung, no reasonable person will look at him and go "what a baby". No one is going to mock someone who is obviously very unwell.

What the term is mocking is the men who have exactly the same common cold as their wives, but they do absolutely nothing while their wives cook, clean, look after the kids, and tend to said husband. Colds suck, but unless you're immunocompromised, they aren't debilitating. A man with a cold is still capable of cooking, cleaning, and looking after the kids.

Also, testosterone doesn't "lower" the immune system. Women have slightly stronger immune systems but not significantly, but a healthy man will have an immune system that works perfectly fine. If you genuinely find yourself debilitated by the common cold, then you need to see a doctor because that is abnormal.

Shrimptank_mom · 2026-06-13T07:17:17+00:00

"It just knocks you out [sic] it feels like the energy is squeezed out of you and everything just hurts"

Females feel that way a few days every month from puberty to menopause. And we have to clean ourselves up and go to work anyway.

Carldwen20 · 2026-06-13T12:57:28+00:00

Man flu is nothing but an insulting term for when men arnt well, for what ever reason. It’s nothing more than an insulting term stating they are bong drama queens.

In 2019 my abdomen started hurting out of the blue. Went to the dr on Monday, send home. Was worse on Tuesday, wife say it was just man flu. Wednesday rolls around, I’ve not eaten in 2 days, feels like I’ve had a basketball booted in my intestines. Go back to the dr despite the manflu comments, was rocking a temperature of 39 degrees with classic signs of appendicitis, taken to hospital and admitted on the spot for surgery. I wasn’t complaining about the pain, I was just not running round as normal as I felt shit. Yet was given ridicule until it became a condition that could kill.

2023, kids brought home a cold from school. They had it, then wife, I was the one keeping everything running, eventually I get it. First week it’s just a cold, second week I’m coughing heavily all day and night, told it’s man flu. 3rd week I’m struggling to breathe as I’m coughing up slime. In week 4 I go to the dr who threatened to have an ambulance take me to hospital if I didn’t go as I had pneumonia and my 02 was below 85. Right up until a dr had me admitted it was “oh it’s just man flue”

It’s an utterly insulting term considering most men just get on with it when they feel run over by a bus. If they physically seem to be slowing down and saying they don’t feel to great, chances are they are now at a stage where they could be ok bed rest, not belittled and made to feel like drama queens for seeking medical aid.

I’m sure some men are drama queens, just as some women are, but the term man flu being thrown around is insulting and honestly makes the women saying it look like fools

Lumpy_Plant6914 · 2026-06-12T11:07:19+00:00

My partner, whom I love and cherish, and who likewise loves and cherishes me - have actually struggled to take my plights seriously a lot of times.

Though, how are we as men raised? I have had to learn to regularly express my emotions and physical vulnerabilities, and to take up my due space in a conversation around my struggles. We don't take ourselves seriously, and my partner has assumed that when I don't talk about my struggles in a typical emotionally coded-way, I'm good.

It isn't because of lack of empathy - it is more a failure of understanding. This goes both ways. I have tried to help my partner be comfortable in expressing her more rational, critical and otherwise blunt views for years. Being angry is something culture has taught women not to be, and although there are changes, in our close relationships these dynamics show themselves. Do I lack empathy because I fail to see how much she struggles? That isn't a view that serves our partnership. We are a team; one isn't better than the other.

Learning more of the 'others' way of seeing, understanding and dealing with the world, we can more of the best of both worlds. Win-Win, no need to blame anyone.

Title	Man flu is real and proves that women don't have empathy for men.
Author	ppotato-_-otatopp
Upvotes	0
Comments	128
Date	June 12, 2026 10:45 AM UTC (1 month ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/PurplePillDebate
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/PurplePillDebate/comments/1u3rt9d/man_flu_is_real_and_proves_that_women_dont_have/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/PurplePillDebate/man-flu-is-real-and-proves-that-women-dont-have.1582625 https://theredarchive.com/post/1582625

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