Men And Women Communicate Differently (Surprise!)
Historically, women have a much easier time with this concept than men. Don’t get too cocky women — sometimes the communication from women is so muddled that the man never really knows what you want!
There are two things at work here. First, the man tends to shut himself down when there is a problem. He is oriented on fixing the problem, and if he can’t do so right away, there is no sense in dealing with it. The book Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus describes this as men retreating to “their cave”.
Women, on the other hand, tend to spill out their feelings to the man. The man reacts by offering solutions to problems, or by ignoring. Either way, the woman doesn’t feel like she is really being heard. Women also have a tendency to say one thing, and mean another. Men are often expected to be mind readers, which only leads to resentment and frustration from both sexes.
Understanding these differences in communicating, and making an active effort to communicate effectively is key.
