Questions Girls are Afraid to Ask

Hi, I’m Doctor Rich — board-certified urogynecologist and [laughing]…practicing…male… stripper.

[Video beeps with an “outtake” sound]

Welcome back for another edition of “Doctor Rich responds to questions women are too embarrassed to ask.” Make sure to stick around to the end for the strangest p*nis question yet!

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Question 1: Why do we call it MEN-struation? 

Doctor Rich [laughing and puzzled]:

That’s a good one! I’m going to have to search that up — I’ll be right back!

[Using a voice search feature on his phone] “What is the Latin root of menstruation?”

[Reading the search results] Oh, wow — I’m just going to read it! 

So I knew there had to be a derivation from the Latin roots, so let’s see what Google has to say!

[Reading the answer] “The term ‘menstruation’ and ‘menses’ are derived from the Latin menses, meaning month, which in turn relates to the Greek term mene — which is moon.”

So “moon month!” It’s the lunar calendar — menstruation! Huh! How did I not know that? 

Next question…

Who should pay for the first date?

Well, I mean, I’m a Gen Xer. I was raised by boomers — so “chivalry isn’t dead.” Men pay for the dates. I know that this is a different generation with the Gen Zers and the Millennials — and that everything is split. And, you know, maybe there’s some value in that. 

But you know, for my money (LITERALLY my money) — I’m paying for the first date. 

What is your favorite kind of girl’s shoe? 

[Jokingly] Um… none? Have you seen my wife’s closet?! No more shoes, man. That’s it — you’re cut off!

Do guys talk about girls like girls talk about guys?

So I can only imagine this is the “dirty stuff” question. So are we sitting there getting, you know, thirsty about different things and very vulgar? No! Men would never do that! Move along to the next question. 

Do you think my legs look good without shaving?

You know (literally every day), I get up and I do my morning routine. One of the items which I include is writing a love note to my wife. And I just wrote to her the other day that I’m so glad she takes such good care of herself. She does great self-care, including shaving, waxing… and I think it’s a good thing!

What is your best relationship advice?

So, ironically — I just had this conversation with my thirteen-year-old son last night while we were walking the dog: choosing a life partner with shared goals. 

You want to be with someone who is going to be supportive of you. You don’t want someone that has conditional love — you want someone to support you in good and bad times. You need to have similar career goals, similar financial goals, similar child/parenting goals — and these types of things.

I think people focus way too much on just the pure physical attraction thing — and divorce rates are 75%! This is one of the most critical decisions you’re making in your life! And also BE the person that would attract (or be attractive to) this ideal mate that you’ve created.

And now… we’re going to switch it up! We’re going to answer questions that guys are too embarrassed to ask girls! 

With periods, is it a gush, or a small leak, or more of a drip every so often?

Well — speaking as a gynecologist and having been bled upon numerous occasions through residency training and obstetrics where there’s blood everywhere (and managing and treating all types of conditions where periods are just a drop here and there — every three years versus bleeding and becoming anemic and needing immediate emergency surgery) — it’s all across the board!

And there are any number of reasons (and conditions) that can result in different types of flow levels. 

Can you tell the moon phases from your period?

Well, we talked about that earlier. So there are some preliminary studies that say there might be some correlation in 25% of women, but a larger recent study shows that there’s no correlation with the moon and your periods — or anything like that. 

Oh, and piggybacking off of that…

Is period synchronization a thing?

So menstrual synchronization (or the McClintock Effect) is the idea that women in close groups who work closely together will influence each other’s menstrual cycles. Through some pheromone transmission, their periods will start to align — which observationally has been seen. 

But there was a large Oxford study recently done that said that, basically, that’s not a thing.

I know this is gonna seem weird… but how do you control your pee stream? It’s easy as a guy, but I’m not sure if it would be easier for a woman.

So I’m not sure it’s easy for a guy! I do NOT want to interrupt my pee stream! That’s an uncomfortable experience!

The female urethra is about one to two centimeters, and the male urethra is about seven to eight centimeters. ([Laughing] There’s probably a “peepee joke” in there somewhere…)

The urethral sphincter — the muscle that controls whether you leak urine or not — is approximately the same length in men and women. And the mechanism by which you stop your pee stream is basically the same. But as far as aiming — guys have the upper hand.

[listening to a comment offscreen]

What was that? 

Oh… My wife says that I don’t. 

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