Brutal. But funny and correct +
Higher education is a woke joke
- Thread starter Diogenes
- Start date
Hot flashes are common in women of a certain age.
Yes. Medically known as Menopause. All married men know it by its real name. Mentalpause.
At first I thought this was something from the Onion.
Not if they're wise enough to trade in the olds for younger hardbodies before menopause occcurs.
Nope. The "black" perspective; "We wuz victims".
.Menopause is not just about hot flashes. Out of whack hormones, close proximity to kitchen knives etc have to be taken into account also. One can be adventurous,,,,but always with one's head on a swivel...lol!Not if they're wise enough to trade in the olds for younger hardbodies before menopause occcurs.
That old superstition about women aboard a vessel makes sense.
Yes. What's your problem anyway?
You deny that women of a certain age experience hot flashes?
Not all women. Just redheads, cross eyed women and Finns. Male or female.
Are you sure about that?
Grok, what's the old superstition about women aboard a vessel?
Women aboard a ship were considered bad luck.
Sailors traditionally believed that a woman’s presence would anger the sea gods (or the sea itself, often personified as a jealous female force) and bring storms, rough weather, shipwrecks, or other misfortune. The sea and ships were both commonly referred to as “she,” so a real woman on board was thought to provoke jealousy or offense.
Practical factors reinforced the belief: an all-male crew could become distracted or jealous, which was seen as dangerous on long voyages with tight discipline and limited space. In extreme cases during storms, some crews even threw women overboard in an attempt to appease the gods (with predictably tragic and ineffective results).
A notable contradiction existed alongside the superstition: a naked or bare-breasted woman was sometimes thought to calm the seas by “shaming” them. This is one reason many traditional sailing ships carried bare-breasted female figureheads on the bow.
The belief was widespread in Western maritime culture for centuries (with roots going back to ancient seafaring traditions) but was never absolute—captains’ wives, passengers on some merchant or passenger vessels, and women who disguised themselves as men occasionally sailed anyway. It has largely faded in modern shipping and navies.
Was it ever limited to "redheads and cross eyed women"?
No. The classic maritime superstition applied to women in general, not a narrower subset limited to redheads and cross-eyed women.
Sailors widely held that any woman aboard a working ship or fishing vessel risked angering the sea (or sea gods), causing storms or misfortune. This was the broad, longstanding belief.
Red hair was a separate but overlapping superstition:
- Redheads of either sex were often considered unlucky on ships or when met on the way to the boat.
- In some fishing communities (notably Irish and Scottish), a red-haired woman aboard was viewed as especially inauspicious.
- A common mitigation was for the sailor to speak first if encountering a redhead before sailing.
Cross-eyed (or squinting) people appear in broader folklore as bad omens or linked to the “evil eye,” and some seafaring accounts treated unusual physical traits (including crossed eyes) as potential Jonahs. However, sources do not show the women-aboard rule ever being restricted specifically to “redheads and cross-eyed women.”
In short, the core taboo covered women broadly; red hair was an additional, independent marker of bad luck that sometimes intensified the concern when it involved women.
Your insinuation was undeniable. Again, what's your problem?
Grok is not wrong. Every port and nation has its beliefs and superstitions. Though...long legged Sailors such as myself do not have superstitions. Just verifiable knowledge handed down over generations.