The internet is cracking up over one male TikToker tried—and failed—to understand the monthly plight of period-havers everywhere.
As reported by UNILAD, Darius Covington, known on the app as @dariuscovington77, set out to answer the age-old question: what does having a period actually feel like? And, is it as painful as people say it is?
Similar to other experiments where people have attached themselves to "labor simulators" to approximate the pain of giving birth, Covington attached a "period simulator" to his abdomen and set about making some eggs. Both use the same thing, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) machines, just at different settings.
In his viral video, which has been viewed nearly 7 million times, Covington announces that he's going to attempt making eggs while attached to the period simulator. He says that he's going to start at "level three," but notes that "level five" is supposed to be similar to period cramps and "level ten" should simulate labor.
As soon as he switches on the TENS machine, Covington tenses up in pain. He tries to crack an egg but, before he can finish, he pauses in agony and lets out a silent scream.
After a while on "level three," he says he's going to up the setting to "level five," which is supposedly the same intensity as period pain. Covington almost immediately doubles over in pain, clenching his stomach. Eventually, he falls to the floor and yells for someone off-camera to unplug the machine.
This video wasn't the first time Covington tried the period simulator: in February, he posted two videos of himself trying it with similar results. "So, I'm sorry," he says, "Y'all just live through this?"
@dariuscovington77 Reply to @eenymeenymo What else should I try/ react to? #fyp #funny #fail #trending #relatable #failarmy #foryoupage
♬ Aesthetic - Xilo
In addition to the period-simulation videos, Covington has used the app to experience, or at least gain an understanding of, the issues that many women face on a day-to-day basis, especially with respect to menstruation, health, and beauty.
In one video, for example, he learns about pap smears and is shocked to learn they aren't "massages" like he had previously thought. And in another video, he struggles to breathe while wearing a waist trainer, a corset-like garment that has gained recent popularity.
@dariuscovington77 If you own one of these throw it away!!! 😩😂😂 #fyp #foryoupage #funny #fail #failarmy #trending #laugh #relatable
♬ Monkeys Spinning Monkeys - Kevin MacLeod
Covington's over 400,000 followers seem to love his genuine interest in learning about these sorts of experiences, and many commenters use his videos as a space to share their own hardships with the topics he's covering.
"From now on I'm only dating guys who are willing to try this," reads one comment on the cooking-with-period-simulator video.
"The endless scream means you ALMOST know what it feels like!" wrote another viewer.
