This Woman With A Rare Medical Condition Can't Hear Men's Voices

Not being able to hear men? Sounds like an unlikely blessing

A woman in China has been diagnosed with a rare medical condition that leaves her unable to hear the voices of men. She can, however, hear the voices of women perfectly.

While experiencing hearing loss can be devastating for many hearing people, this particular ailment is, uh, maybe not so bad after all?

A woman, identified by the Daily Mail as Ms. Chen, went to bed one evening after feeling nauseated and experiencing ringing in her ears. When she woke up the next day, she was unable to hear her boyfriend’s voice.

She immediately saw an ear, nose, and throat specialist at the hospital, Dr. Lin Xiaoqing, who diagnosed her condition. “She was able to hear me when I spoke to her, but when a young male patient walked in, she couldn’t hear him at all,” Xiaoqing tells the Daily Mail.

Ms. Chen was diagnosed with something called “reverse-slope hearing loss,” which means she can only hear high frequencies, which explains why she is unable to hear low frequencies, like male voices. The condition is believed to affect only one in 13,000 patients with hearing problems.

Reverse-slope hearing loss can be caused by genetics, but stress is also a contributing factor to the condition. Ms. Chen told Dr. Xiaoqing she had been working late hours and putting her body under more stress than usual, while also not sleeping well. The doctor believes stress is the cause of Ms. Chen’s hearing loss, and that she expects her patient to make a full recovery.

Could you imagine waking up one day and not having to endure a single “Well, actually” from a man at the office? A day where all attempts at catcalling are completely muted? Where any attempt for a man to speak to you automatically goes unheard?

The women of the internet don’t think this type of medical condition is altogether bad.

And here’s one funny guy coming in with a pun:

Listen, making light of hearing loss is a shitty thing to do. But this specific type of hearing loss — which, in Ms. Chen’s case, is likely temporary — comes with benefits, too. A blessing and a curse, if you will. But only a curse if, say, Jason Momoa was to approach you to ask you literally anything and you couldn’t hear him.

Hopefully, Ms. Chen engages in some self-care, stat. If nothing else, the fact that she literally can’t hear men talking means her stress level should have no problem returning to normal.