It might be a good idea to point out that there is substantial individual variation in how individual women experience their menstrual cycle. Knowing the averages does not enable you to draw conclusions about what any individual is experiencing. If you find yourself saying, “You must be [X] because of your menstrual cycle,” stop. Do not lecture women about their menstrual cycle, do not assume you know more than they do about how their bodies work.
I gather there wasn’t any data about cyclic changes in sex drive, but that would be an interesting one to study too.
Yes, I completely agree with this point. I hope I made it clear that I like thinking about data like this exclusively for personal “outside view”-y reflection. So things like, “Oh I haven’t gotten anything done this morning, maybe it’s because of (x cycle variable), so maybe I can do (y intervention) to fix things”. And then, generalizing to other women only in the sense that they might find it helpful to think similar thoughts.
They didn’t mention sex drive, but the binary variable “had sex” did come up in the study. However individual fluctuations cancelled out any patterns beyond “more sex on weekends” and “less sex during periods”.
It might be a good idea to point out that there is substantial individual variation in how individual women experience their menstrual cycle. Knowing the averages does not enable you to draw conclusions about what any individual is experiencing. If you find yourself saying, “You must be [X] because of your menstrual cycle,” stop. Do not lecture women about their menstrual cycle, do not assume you know more than they do about how their bodies work.
I gather there wasn’t any data about cyclic changes in sex drive, but that would be an interesting one to study too.
Yes, I completely agree with this point. I hope I made it clear that I like thinking about data like this exclusively for personal “outside view”-y reflection. So things like, “Oh I haven’t gotten anything done this morning, maybe it’s because of (x cycle variable), so maybe I can do (y intervention) to fix things”. And then, generalizing to other women only in the sense that they might find it helpful to think similar thoughts.
They didn’t mention sex drive, but the binary variable “had sex” did come up in the study. However individual fluctuations cancelled out any patterns beyond “more sex on weekends” and “less sex during periods”.