Kev Kennedy's Blog

Man flu...

I have a theory about "man flu". In fact I have a number of theories. One is that women are disdainful of "man flu" because they want to distract attention from "time of the month" issues, knowing that males are well within their rights to raise their eyebrows at unreasonable behaviour one week in four, shrug and say 'Women!'. I guess it makes the chicks feel better about PMT if they can point to how useless men are with a sniffle. (Sorry if that sounds sexist - feel free to let me know what you think in the forums)

But my other theory is that man flu is in fact vicious for two reasons: 1) we go on too long with minor symptoms in a vain effort to appear manly, so when the bug finally hits us it does so with added severity, and 2) we're built to crash, so that we can recover more quickly and take less time to get back to hunting and gathering.

But I also think man flu, colds and all the rest of the winter illnesses are there to remind us that we aren't unstoppable and invincible. And when you think how small a virus is, and how it can bring a comparatively vast mechanism to a crashing halt, it's kind of encouraging. Often when faced with things we know are wrong: institutions, systems, government plans, corporate dodgy dealings and the like, we can feel small, insignificant and powerless. And yet, history tells us that when progress has happened in human history it has always been through the actions of a few people with 'infectious ideas'. And, like a virus, eventually it can build up and make a difference.

So as I sit here snuffling, hunkered down in a snuggly cardigan, perhaps my man flu is simply a reminder that I do in fact have the ability to change things.

Created on Fri 23rd November 2007 09:28