Ohh, men and women… we all are so similar and different!!)

People like to believe that men and women are really different, but by nature they aren’t. We grow up imagining the opposite sex is some great mystery because everything about them seems different, and so we think it’s difficult to talk to the opposite sex. But really, men and women are very similar. They are anatomically different, but it’s not that big a difference.
“Okay then,” you say. “What about the difference in the way men and women think? They don’t like the same things; they don’t talk the same, walk the same or wear the same clothes!” (Well… actually some do:))

Although men and women act differently, that’s not so much a biological instinct as it is a cultural role they are taught to play. Men don’t automatically love soccer, beer drinking, or going to the gym – they are culturally programmed to adopt these behaviors because it brings them greater social approval.

“A man who does not watch soccer is not ‘one of the boys’; a man who does not drink beer is not real man; a man who’s muscular earns the respect of his peers and is more attractive to women.”

These are beliefs so deeply ingrained into us that people might tell you it’s a fact, just like how women learn about the importance of being beautiful from magazines, television, and friends. What creates such a great difference in thinking and behavior is not nature, but the enculturation of newborns into their gender roles. Blue for boys, pink for girls; toss the boys around, but be gentle with the girls. From young, everything about our culture teaches the sexes to differentiate themselves. From the clothes we wear to whether we can fart in public.

Being too focused on the exterior of a person, you only see the physical and cultural difference – the accessories and behaviors created to differentiate the sexes. But look past the surface and you’ll see that each person, male or female, is subject to the same laws of emotion, logic, reason, and motivation. They have wants and desires, dislikes and hates; they communicate through language; they have two eyes, one nose, one mouth, two ears, ten fingers and ten toes. They have much more in common than they do in difference. So it is a folly to believe it is difficult to relate to the opposite sex. Just talk to them as you would any casual person, and you’ll see that even the most attractive person is easy to chat with…
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