Talk:Man flu

Sources

It does seem however that men do suffer for longer periods when they catch a common cold, and take longer to recover

Citation please!

(M4rk 15:28, 11 January 2007 (UTC))

Likewise, can someone put in links that lead to actual source material? I tried footnote 5 and the further reading, neither of which led to relevant material. e-tat (talk) —Preceding undated comment was added at 10:45, 22 January 2009 (UTC).

It "seems" not...as I am a man in a marriage where the woman is "always' sick...please keep your damn new stereotypes to yourself. If I am sick, I am still expected to take care of the kids while She gets her much needed beauty sleep. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.119.33.186 (talk) 13:30, 26 January 2011 (UTC)

Deletion Proposition

Absolutely there is a need to delete this stereotype. If you don't mind this, then let's be sure to include in the article without any other notes, that women belong in the kitchen barefoot and pregnant (this is not my true opinion, but you get the idea). To establish new stereotypes is worse than the original stereotypes you complained about. And I don't have the flu and never am allowed to have the flu. PO'ed husband, yes, should I get out my marriage? Yes, but I have 2 little kids who need a functional parent. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.119.33.186 (talk) 13:35, 26 January 2011 (UTC)

There is absolutely no need to delete this. The term does exist, and I have heard it used in real-life situations by completely unrelated parties; in addition, the information in the article is pretty much what those who used the term described it as. Clearly it's a phrase growing in popularity and as such is worthy of an article to discuss its meaning and origins; indeed, I came here looking for exactly that! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.4.158.215 (talk • contribs) 18:57, February 8, 2007

I agree with the above comment. I visited Wikepedia in search for a definition of the term, as the phrase has been used on several occassions and I have never fully understood what it meant. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 88.106.171.142 (talk) 17:57, 24 February 2007 (UTC).

Though it may exist in common speech, the article says that some say it exists then gives stronger evidence that it does not exist. Worthless. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.207.236.232 (talk) 01:17, 12 November 2007 (UTC)

Makes no sense in the context of factitious disorders (real personality disorders attributable to individuals). Rather, something more akin to something between slang and a gender-based generalizations. Delete. Psinu 18:38, 1 December 2007 (UTC)

If you think it should be deleted, try listing it for deletion through WP:AFD. ^anemoneI_projectors 00:36, 2 December 2007 (UTC)

Why does it need deleting, the fact that I have just looked it up shows it exits, I had a Flu jab the other day and I have been feeling a bit groggy, & I just told my 5 year old daughter that I had Man Flu, after, funnily enough, hearing the all female staff ganging up on the male Pharmacist in the Chemist the other day who was coughing and complaing of not feeling well one of them said he had 'Man Flu'. So as I said I was looking it up to help explain it to my daughter. Yakacm (talk) 17:10, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

You seem to be under the misapprehension that the criteria for inclusion of a term in Wikipedia is "existence". You are unaware that Wikipedia is not a dictionary.

Here's a bit of original research, out of interest. It seems to me that this meme revolves around a new name for an old concept. That is to say, that men ought to be tough, and not complain about ailments. This has the paradoxical consequence that, since men don't complain so much, when they do complain, the spectacle of the complaining man is enough to make people feel that men are wont to complain. I can think of two more instances of this phenomenon: when the Romans invaded Britain with their all-male armies, they were shocked to see that the Britons had some female warriors. Because they were expecting zero, seeing a few women made a great impression on them, and led to tales of 50-50 armies, or all-female armies. Here's the another: men in our society are told that they should not be vain, because it is pathetic and effeminate. This means that when men do break this mould even slightly (e.g. by looking in a mirror), they are likely to be ridiculed as vain, although the same behaviour from a female would be normal and desirable. This leads to the impression that men are vain. I'm certain that if you did a survey of people (especially women), people would on average (and quite absurdly) say that men are vainer than women.

From the two examples that you gave, neither of which actually involved a self-diagnosis of flu, it is clear that this slang term is just a general way of accusing men of hypochondria when they have any ailment. Perhaps we ought to go back to labelling women as "hysterical" at the drop of a hat. — Chameleon 01:50, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

If this article is allowed to remain, it should be edited to add that the term is misandrist and offensive. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.104.36.194 (talk • contribs) 00:48, 9 December 2013

It is not misandrist. There are studies confirming that the "man cold" is an actual thing. Their is scientific evidence backing up this claim [1], [2], [3], [4], [5]. There are many others I can link to. The last link is shows it has nothing to do misandry. So don't spew that feminist crap. Mr. C.C.^{Hey yo!}_{I didn't do it!} 00:51, 22 October 2015 (UTC)

"It seems to me that this meme revolves around a new name for an old concept. That is to say, that men ought to be tough, and not complain about ailments." - I second that sentiment. Maybe it should be put forward in the article. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 163.47.112.176 (talk) 08:56, 20 August 2017 (UTC)

Definition of man-flu, never includes influenza.

"Man-flu" never refers to influenza, only to a cold or unspecified rhinovirus. The assertion is that "men don't get colds, they get flu". The symptoms of cold and flu are similar but not identical, man-flu is used to refer to the condition of one who purports to be suffering from influenza, whilst exhibiting the symptoms of a cold and nothing that would render the only diagnosis as influenza.

In my experience, when someone has the energy to argue vehemently that they have flu, they don't! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.107.182.109 (talk) 11:16, 9 March 2008 (UTC)

Culture-specific syndrome?

Is "man flu" specific to the UK or Commonwealth countries? I've never heard of it in the US.

It's not commonplace in the Commonwealth either; it's more an ephemeral term. --Steven Fruitsmaak (Reply) 09:27, 4 May 2009 (UTC)

It exists all over the world whether they call it that or not. Mr. C.C.^{Hey yo!}_{I didn't do it!} 00:52, 22 October 2015 (UTC)

Butthurt

The article just looks like whoever wrote it got called out himself for having man flu, and tries to prove that it doesn't exist.144.124.139.61 (talk) 12:05, 26 May 2010 (UTC)

It doesn't exist. It's nonsense. David Mitchell's soap box is easily the single greatest admonishment of that patent nonsense. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 143.239.7.1 (talk) 17:38, 14 January 2011 (UTC)

Well, men are MORE suseptible to illness yet call off work much less. So "man flu" doesn't exist. Case closed. Now, on to why healthier women call off work so much. 184.13.130.243 (talk) 21:58, 21 April 2011 (UTC)

"pejorative" term

I don't think Man-Flu is a pejorative term, and would like to remove the reference as such unless anyone can cite why it is a negative term? In fact the fact that evidence is starting to suggest it exists in terms of comparative immune systems. I think not to provide it would be a baised POV

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— Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.3.107.186 (talk) 10:47, 24 July 2011 (UTC)

To suggest that somebody is exaggerating an illness and making an unnecessary fuss over trivial symptoms seems to fit with the definition of pejorative as disparaging and disrespectful. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 163.47.112.176 (talk) 08:31, 20 August 2017 (UTC)

Agreed, fits very well. Adding this back until there’s consensus. Oxenfording (talk) 05:21, 6 March 2023 (UTC)

Reflist

So, I went to add a reflist, but i see there is one already, so why then is the big red notice still at the end of the article. Many thanks

Confused NiceGuy (MrNiceGuy1113 (talk) 15:08, 20 September 2012 (UTC))

 Fixed - Assuming (in good faith) that the newly added reference is good, the provider accidentally removed the </ref> tag.  -- WikHead (talk) 21:12, 20 September 2012 (UTC)

2013 Study

There was a study done more recently with concern for the reasons for man-flu. I wasn't sure what to add myself, and the article currently seems to err of te side of non-existence. Sources: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/man-flu-is-no-myth-say-scientists-with-manly-men-more-susceptible-9024306.html http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/man-flu-is-no-myth-say-scientists-with-manly-men-more-susceptible-9024306.html — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.29.32.213 (talk) 19:05, 8 May 2014 (UTC)

Death by Man Flu

While I am ok with my first source not being the most trustworthy there are reports from different medias that the (self-)diagnoses of "Man Flu" can lead to death or serious medical problems. This should be made clear since this is a serious issue. RA-Punzel72 (talk) 14:32, 16 August 2015 (UTC)

My issue is that these sources are well known for sensationalizing fairly trivial issues and are pretty much never factually accurate; that being said, the stories are not incorrect in that symptoms are often trivialized and that is probably worth mentioning in this case. I have rephrased the text to be more accurate, as in the cases mentioned it is unlikely that a casual diagnosis of 'Man Flu' was actually a particularly important factor in the deaths. In one case 'Man Flu' seemed to be mentioned in passing a couple of days before the patient's condition was actually serious enough to require an ambulance. PriceDL (talk) 04:43, 19 August 2015 (UTC)

Scientific Basis

One of the references given talks about sick days, but (as it points out) people take sick days for a number of different reasons, and it would be difficult to account for women being 'ten times more likely' to take days off to care for sick children, and more likely to care for elderly relatives. If a couple have to choose, then the higher-earning parent (still more likely to be the father) might opt to go to work. Children may also prefer their mothers to stay at home to look after them.

Also, taking a day off work does not indicate how much somebody talks or complains about their illness, which is where the assertion of 'man-flu' comes in. Perhaps men are more likely to go to work when they are ill and therefore more likely to annoy their colleagues by talking about being ill. Maybe they are more likely to use illness to ask for favours from their partner. Perhaps macho culture (influenced from both sides) makes it more acceptable to challenge the self-reporting of symptoms in men rather than women. There are too many variables to account for.

The severity of symptoms is also difficult to compare objectively. One of the indicators for pain is patient self-reporting. If somebody says they have a headache and rate it as 8/10, who could prove otherwise?

I'm not convinced that science is going to provide a definitive answer here. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 163.47.112.176 (talk) 08:51, 20 August 2017 (UTC)