Gender Issues (And How Girls Have Cooties)

Damon, "do you ever feel gypped because you're a dude with MS...and its like kinda like ...a chick disease...?"

You know, I never really thought about it. It's not something I pay attention to. Maybe I am shortsighted or maybe too self involved to consider other people, but it doesn't seem to be a big issue to me. Of course I notice it, I'm not oblivious on the matter, but I'm not sitting around in the He-Man Woman Haters Clubhouse discussing gender issues and how girls have cooties.

Maybe it's because I am not all super involved. I tried signing up for a class on learning about my MS and all that stuff, but I was too late for registration and the course was canceled anyway due to lack of participants (whoops!). I imagine though that I would feel super awkward showing up and seeing a group of people who are probably not in their 20s and probably almost all women. Now, I don't mind sitting around and getting a good look at all the ladies, but this is probably not a Miss America panel or even a Cougar-MILF convention. I know I am working on guesses, assumptions, and all that but I just get the feeling I'm gonna end up in a room full of people not too much like myself. How am I supposed to relate to people when I am in the minority? Hi, I'm a twenty-something guy with Multiple Sclerosis. Anyone else? Yea, I'm not in the majority on this one...

Maybe the problem lies with the youth. Maybe we quarter-agers all feel like we are too cool for school and don't do things like classes or meetings. I'm probably guilty of that one, thinking "stuff like this is stupid, useless, boring or whatever". So because we are all trying not to be nerds or we are freshmen afraid of being surrounded by upperclassmen we don't bother to get into those situations and thereby make our group the minority by default.

But back to the gender thing. It is kinda sucky to be a guy with MS. It's not a macho thing or whatever, it just feels like there isn't enough to relate to. Every once and a while I do a little blog searching to read about other people living with the same crap as me, and see how their lives are coming along. I have read a couple and pretty much they are all females. Now I am not saying I've read every blog, or even a bunch. I haven't specifically looked for guy stuff either. All I am saying is that from what I can tell so far, there's not a ton of MS-dude-blogs out there.  There's not really much of a voice out there for the guys, and what voice is there is small and hard to hear.

So am I volunteering to be that voice? Well, not really. I'm not the most eloquent or insightful. I just end up bitching about stuff most of the time. Then again, isn't that how blogs are supposted to work anyway? We all know the Internet is for 3 things - Bitching about stuff, funny cat pictures and porn. So it's not like it's that hard to be a blogging sensation. I'm pretty good at complaining. If I end up being part of the collective male voice for Multiple Sclerosis because of it, well I think it's probably a good thing. Maybe then the next guy who is looking for some male point-of-view might find my blog and not feel like too much of a minority.

On a side note: I had to write this twice because of some computer technical difficulties. That crap sucks. I'm surprised I even bothered to try again. Stupid technology.

Side note #2: Thanks to Jackie for the idea to write this entry. It was either I talk about this or her butthole and I think she is much better at writing about assholes. I am also pretty sure she will write very soon that I am a total asshole. Count on it.