I literally don’t believe that about testosterone and pain, and yes I looked up studies and they are there, you are correct. I think it’s probably cognitive priming affecting results, the idea men should be more resistant to pain so they do so, similar to how IQ tests cause discrepancies (See: Delusions of Gender by Cordelia Fine).
In my actual experience as a proDominatrix beating people, men with testosterone tolerate SIGNIFICANTLY less pain than estrogenized counterparts. And these are men in MMA and former military etc. They just can’t mentally handle agony the same for the most part. I don’t think they enjoy the sensate texture of pain like women subs do. Stuff that makes women moan and whimper makes men scream and yelp and jump back in shocked pain. And perhaps this has to do with cognitive priming relating to their perception of me; however I will say even pretransition subs follow this. A transwoman who has never taken hormones tolerates pain the same as a ciswoman in my experience. I think we force women to tolerate abuse automatically and they just tend to deal with it better, and enjoy playing with the sensation more. I also think women tend to be more skilled at empathy and tend to tolerate pain better when I’m feeling something strongly - I think they go on my emotional journey as a Domme to escape their emotional journey as a sub.
Re: cognitive priming - Look at all the videos of period cramp simulators - men have been cognitively primed to quit earlier and do quit most of the time while women chill and pokerface.
And I’ve had other Dom(mes) agree, including male Doms, about this. Women tolerate pain and violence more in real life settings, and also tend to request it more.
Now there are two distinct parameters of pain tolerance and maybe that’s where the study is confusing itself, because I don’t see clarity between these definitions. One is pain sensitivity, how much pain you actually feel. There is a woman in the UK with a lot of natural anandamide* who isn’t senstive to pain at all - but if she feels equivalent pain to another person for some reason, it’s possible she cannot tolerate it the same. Tolerating pain is different than how much pain we actually feel, but science has a hard time measuring these things. Perhaps testosterone does indeed help “numb” people to pain, but I still think women tolerate or endure actual pain sensation better.
Excellent write up. I think there are different kinds of pain and we’d need to measure to account for that.
When I’m at the BDSM club the women generally want and can take more pain. (Some guys are totally insane though.)
When I’m in my gravel biking group it’s very much the opposite. The dudes will slide down 20 ft of gravel and their legs look like someone took a cheese grater to them. They have a laugh, hop back on the bike, and finish the ride with blood in their shoes. The ladies generally take a little spill and loose a little skin and they are crying and want help walking their bike back to the car. (Some chicks are hard as nails though.)
I literally don’t believe that about testosterone and pain, and yes I looked up studies and they are there, you are correct. I think it’s probably cognitive priming affecting results, the idea men should be more resistant to pain so they do so, similar to how IQ tests cause discrepancies (See: Delusions of Gender by Cordelia Fine).
In my actual experience as a proDominatrix beating people, men with testosterone tolerate SIGNIFICANTLY less pain than estrogenized counterparts. And these are men in MMA and former military etc. They just can’t mentally handle agony the same for the most part. I don’t think they enjoy the sensate texture of pain like women subs do. Stuff that makes women moan and whimper makes men scream and yelp and jump back in shocked pain. And perhaps this has to do with cognitive priming relating to their perception of me; however I will say even pretransition subs follow this. A transwoman who has never taken hormones tolerates pain the same as a ciswoman in my experience. I think we force women to tolerate abuse automatically and they just tend to deal with it better, and enjoy playing with the sensation more. I also think women tend to be more skilled at empathy and tend to tolerate pain better when I’m feeling something strongly - I think they go on my emotional journey as a Domme to escape their emotional journey as a sub.
Re: cognitive priming - Look at all the videos of period cramp simulators - men have been cognitively primed to quit earlier and do quit most of the time while women chill and pokerface.
And I’ve had other Dom(mes) agree, including male Doms, about this. Women tolerate pain and violence more in real life settings, and also tend to request it more.
Now there are two distinct parameters of pain tolerance and maybe that’s where the study is confusing itself, because I don’t see clarity between these definitions. One is pain sensitivity, how much pain you actually feel. There is a woman in the UK with a lot of natural anandamide* who isn’t senstive to pain at all - but if she feels equivalent pain to another person for some reason, it’s possible she cannot tolerate it the same. Tolerating pain is different than how much pain we actually feel, but science has a hard time measuring these things. Perhaps testosterone does indeed help “numb” people to pain, but I still think women tolerate or endure actual pain sensation better.
Oh and PS cognitive priming is likely why men don’t go to the doctor as well
Excellent write up. I think there are different kinds of pain and we’d need to measure to account for that.
When I’m at the BDSM club the women generally want and can take more pain. (Some guys are totally insane though.)
When I’m in my gravel biking group it’s very much the opposite. The dudes will slide down 20 ft of gravel and their legs look like someone took a cheese grater to them. They have a laugh, hop back on the bike, and finish the ride with blood in their shoes. The ladies generally take a little spill and loose a little skin and they are crying and want help walking their bike back to the car. (Some chicks are hard as nails though.)