Female and Male Differences

Although male and female are generally referred to as "opposite" sexes, this is not a completely accurate assessment. In point of fact, although males and females do differ substantially in many ways, they are also alike in many ways. The tendency to characterize them as exact opposites with virtually nothing in common is needlessly polarizing, especially since in order to relate successfully, they need to find some common ground. Furthermore, in the areas where they truly are different, their differences tend to complement each other, making them a positive attribute rather than a drawback. It is not their differences per se that make it hard for men and women to relate; it is their intolerance for those differences. People who understand and appreciate each other's differences find them stimulating and refreshing.

A classic point of contrast between the sexes is communication. Although there are exceptions to every rule, men in general tend to be less communicative than women. Men prefer to talk more about events than feelings, and they talk far less than women do about anything.

In general, men talk to give information or to report. They talk about things -- business, sports, and food rather than people. They convey facts, not details. They are goal-oriented. They focus on solving problems and are less likely to ask for help or directions. Men compete. Women, on the other hand, talk to get information and to connect or to gain rapport. They talk about people rat

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intuitive, creative, and verbal. Men are known to have a "one-track mind." If a man thinks about something from the feelings side of his brain at the same time that he is talking about something from the thinking side of his brain, he stops talking because he momentarily loses his train of thought; he can operate on either side, but not on both at the same time. The woman, however, is a mental multi-tasker who can watch a soap, talk on the phone, and listen for her baby all at once. These contrasting predispositions have some basis in physical differences, since during gestation, a male baby experiences a rush of hormones that forever destroy most of the connectors between the left and right sides of his brain connectors that the woman retains throughout life. Recent thinking, however, points up a few fallacies in this characterization. For one thing, some say, men are actually quite intuitive. We know this because they seem to have a built-in compass that tells them how to find their way when they are lost without asking directions. As psychotherapist Thayer White points out, Because men do seem to have more difficulty with feelings, it has been often believed that men must not be in the right half of the brain. On the

Category: Psychology - F