Actually, I think there's a grain of truth to what McJ said. I believe there are some cultures where PMS is either unheard-of, or not thought to be what it is thought to be in the US.
On the subject of pregnancy, there is no "comparison" but I know for a fact some cultures value stoicism in the pain of childbirth. In one 2001 Finnish study, the female participants even said they thought that pain in labor was somehting natural they should accept. Low acceptance of expression of pain in cultures tends to correlate with a higher tolerance for pain. Culture can be a pretty powerful shaper not only of behavior but of experience.
i'm finnish and i sure as fuck don't accept labour pains.
of course, i refuse to get pregnant in the first place.
but they do have epidurals in finland.
scientologists on the other hand...