Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/01/15/woman-with-medical-condition-c.html
…
3 Likes
This same affliction comes and goes with my Dear Wife.
32 Likes
If it could be switched on or off at will, this could be a superpower.
(Not to make light of permanent hearing loss, of which I have some and it’s a real impediment.)
14 Likes
Ah, you got here first!
Ironically, my wife actually has a very similar condition to this, but I still suspect that its severity can be “situational”.
15 Likes
That kind of talk can earn you a week on the sofa, Mister!
15 Likes
But even the deepest voice has high-frequency components to it, right?
I put deep voices through a high-pass filter and I can still hear them fine.
5 Likes
Conjugal selective deafness is exactly the antidote to that though - if hearing a thing would require that you argue about it, you just didn’t hear it.
5 Likes
My mother has reverse slope hearing loss, although not sudden onset as described here. Her mother had it too. It really sucks as most audiologists have no idea how to treat it and most hearing aids aren’t designed to treat it. Also, most hearing aids are locked down with DRM that prevents you from easily switching audiologists to one who might know what to do better. It is really unfortunate, because of all the common age related disabilities that I have seen, untreated hearing loss is one of the biggest impacts to quality of life for the average person. My mom got a hip replacement and it really helped her mobility. But she isn’t exactly running marathons anyway. Not being able to participate in a dinner conversation with family or having trouble playing with her granddaughter really makes her miserable.
21 Likes
That would apply to the vast majority of hearing problems it would seem.
6 Likes
This superpower would be very useful in some restaurants and public transportation in my city.
1 Like
Oh my god, are you my dad?
4 Likes
Funny, it 's often a common condition in men! 
22 Likes
The opposite condition, an inability to hear female voices, is far more widespread.
19 Likes
Quite true. Most of the men in my family have decreased hearing in the frequencies where women’s voices often reside.
2 Likes
Hmmm… jinx?
Oh, it happens in younger men, too. It’s likely more common among them actually… 
8 Likes
I was the youngest at 28 when I had that hearing test by the ear doc. The oldest cousin was in his late 30’s. Out of the 4 of us, we had a long history of loud concerts and raves and the 4th took care of his hearing and had some loss in those frequencies, but not nearly as much.
1 Like
If I were a woman in Chinese/American/etc. society, I’d probably often wish I couldn’t hear what men were saying.
2 Likes
huh? turn up the internet, I couldn’t hear you.
6 Likes
I have hearing loss, too…
And I think you’re missing the joke…
4 Likes
