I admit to having been completely taken-in by the whole Men are from Mars/Women from Venus thing - not that I ever read the books of course. I didn't really argue with the whole "women are more sensitive and men like talking about hunting" hypotheis.
Although If I thought about it I guess there is plenty of evidence around me to challenge the universal truth of these arguments. I know plenty of men who are sensitive and intuitive communicators and I even know one or two women who can drive tractors. And we all know plenty of women who say little, don't listen and don't seem to have a need to create an emotional wall of chatter around them.
But a series of articles this week has made me think about all this gender difference stuff again.
Writing in her new book, Deborah Cameron, is quite blunt about the evidence behind the theories about all the recent noise.
She says...it's not only untrue, but many of these writers must have compeleytely overlooked the wealth of scientific evidence that says "THERE IS NO NOTICABLE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HOW GENDERS COMMUNICATE".
Apparently there are as many communication differences within genders as there are between them. And where differences have been observered they are often clearly situational or cultural.
But it does raise the question about why the Mars/Venus myth is so popular - a question that she suggests some answers to - not least is a need in society to compensate for changes in gender roles in the last 30 years.
There's no doubt that men and women don't have the same tastes or views that they might have done in the past.
I don't know enough to have a firm opinion either way but I have always felt very uncomfortable with people who rush to grab an easy psychological label and use it to provide a complete explanation of the world around themselves. For example I'm always very nervous when people start telling me their Myers Briggs Type indicator or that they are an Introvert with Analytic tendencies or something.
Us Scopios are prejudiced like that (and we recycle our old jokes...)
It's very easy to grab a ready-made cloak and decide that it defines not just yourself but also those around you. It saves you having to listen properly or indeed apply any of that tricky emotional intelligence stuff...
So, I'm off to knit some lace doilies....
Liam
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