My dad was like that. I mean, if it was in a pile of stuff, like groceries for the week, he'd ignore the tampons among the rest and pay for them. But, he would not make a solitary purchase of them – even if, say, a house with four teen girls all menstruating at the same time ran out of them (true story).

My uncles on both his and my mother's side were the same way. Even spouses of women I knew in my 30s.

Yet another thing I adore about my Persian husband. Here's man – raised in Iran, mind you – and he never once balked at buying up my tampons. Let me tell you… that shed a whole new light on the reticence of American men.