Men Don't Understand

Last week, I posted my response to an image circulating on Facebook that caught my attention. This week, I would like to do the same with a different image. The image this time was of a surprised and puzzled man. It was captioned: “New studies suggest that men really don’t understand women’s emotions.”


Rather than feeling upset this time, I laughed. I felt this should have been obvious and gone without saying. 

 I quickly re-posted with my own caption:

 No guff! Hint: take the time to explain and Help them understand instead of getting upset with them and taking the ‘if you don’t know, I’m not telling you’ approach.

 In general, men have a very different thought process. It’s not because they are trying to ignore how you feel, they simply don’t see things the same way. Get to know the men around you, some of them would genuinely like to understand women better.

 Far too often for my comfort, I have witnessed someone asking a sincere question, only to be shot down for needing to ask. Who does this help? It certainly doesn’t help the person asking the question to better understand the situation, nor does it help the person being asked as they are now denying someone the chance of better understanding them.

 Now, we are all guilty of wanting to keep things to ourselves at times, especially when it comes to our emotions, and that’s okay. It’s alright to tell someone “I don’t know” or “I’m not ready to talk about it yet.”

 It is also okay to ask someone to listen while you explain how you feel. Just remember, generally speaking, different genders observe things differently. I have been in situations where a man didn’t know I was upset, so he could have no way of knowing why I was upset, what had upset me. The moment I informed him that I was feeling hurt by something and explained why, he was more than willing to apologize and explain his perspective. Just as there were times when I didn’t understand why one of my buddies was upset, I had to ask them to explain so that I could better understand and try to help. 

 Communication is everything. Rather than shaming people for not understanding, it might be time we make rewarding questions with answers the new norm. Rather than condemning emotions, perhaps we should make it easier for people to understand them. Let's make 'attempts at understanding' the new norm.

 Feel free to check out my other communication and gender related posts. As always, I welcome feedback and stories in the comments below. 

A Bra Among Bros           Understanding Women          Screw the Taboo     
Communicating with Candor          Advice and Understanding

 Have any topics you would like to see addressed here on The Bra Street Rambler? Email me at thebrastreetrambler@gmail.com

Cheers!
The Bra Street Rambler

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