Just A Comment: The Great Divide...Between A Man and a Woman

Why are we so different? I have asked myself this question many times and I know I will not find an answer that will satisfy me. Is it society? Is it the way we are raised and conditioned? Beside our biological make-up, men and women have these great differences that cause problems, arguments, and confusion in relationships at many different levels. Whether it be emotions, sex,commitment, love, marriage, children, and even sports, there is this great divide between men and women in the way that we respond to or deal with these issues. A divide so great that it is difficult for either gender to cross. When we do decide to enter those turbulent waters, we end up getting into arguments that go in circles. The woman can not understand why her man would do or say what he did, while the man does not understand what she is upset about or why she is making a big deal out of it. This is the general argument that encompasses where our differences lay.

Talib Kweli said it best in his song Love Language, "Women thrive on emotions men refuse to acknowledge." I can not speak for men, but as women, we tend to overthink situations and wear our heart on our sleeves in general. While it seems as if men are just the most nonchalant people on earth until one day they decide to let pent up emotions come out in one unexpected explosion. Using the logic of Kweli, men are refusing to acknowledge these emotions for so long that this unexpected explosion is actually expected. If you remain in denial of your feelings or keep them inside for so long, you are bound to explode one day. I feel as women we are conditioned to express our emotions, talk it out, cry it out, think about it, and then deal with it (eventually), while men are taught to hold it in. Here is where conflict arises. As women, initially, we are confused about this explosion, but being the emotionally in-tune people that we are, we eventually recognize the meaning and depth of the situation. But how many women want to deal with that? The man's explosion can be the flat-line of that relationship.

What can we do as men and women to narrow this divide? Our flaws are what makes us so beautifully human. As individuals in a realtionship, we can work to be more understanding of the differences beheld in the other gender. That may sound hokey, but it's worth a try, isn't it?