Countless films, books, and songs have been produced questioning what exactly it is that women want. However, I believe that women are quite vocal, bordering on vociferous, about their feelings. The real (not-so-stealthy) secret about women is that we actually have no idea what the hell we want. We are capricious and clueless creatures, constantly fluctuating our taste in food, clothes, and especially men. Sooo good luck with us. Nevertheless, the real enigma is men. After some thorough research, I present to you the 10 secrets of the male mind:
1. Men Can’t Help Looking at Other Women
You can blame evolution for that one. Researchers have conducted multitudinous studies, finding that the sight of a woman with an hourglass shape activates the same reward centers in the male brain that are associated with drugs and alcohol. However, if a male were to see the same woman without that particular waist-to-hip ratio, their reward centers would not be activated. Speaking from an evolutionary standpoint, men likely still affiliate curvaceous hips with fertility, thus finding women with hourglass shapes preferable for mating. So if your boyfriend can’t stop staring at a Kim Kardashian doppleganger, it’s really not his fault—it’s evolution’s. Just because he peeks, doesn’t mean he cheats.
2. Men Don’t Listen (…well at least not in the same way that we do)
Men only use the left side of their brain, which is associated with language, to listen, while women use both sides of their brain to listen. Women use their interconnected sides of the brain in ways that men just don’t. This doesn’t insinuate that women are better listeners; it just means that men and women listen differently. Since women are utilizing more language processing centers than men, women are able to multitask while listening, while men need more concentrated focus on a conversation.
Research from the University of Sheffield in England also demonstrates that men process women’s voices differently than they do men’s voices, likely due to the fact that women’s voices are more complex and convey more information. When men listen to women’s voices, it switches on a part of the brain that processes the sound of music. However, when men listen to other men’s voices, the part of their brain that is connected with imagery is activated.
3. Men Are Tough Guys When it Comes to Pain
Through brain imaging, scientists have found that when men feel pain, their cognitive, analytical centers are activated. In contrast, when women feel pain, their limbic system, a.k.a. “emotional headquarters,” is activated. Again, there is plausible evolutionary reason for this: women who feel pain may be going into nurturing, protective overdrive on behalf of their young; whereas men, the defenders of the home and land, aren’t upset about the pain, they just want to stop it.
4. Men Aren’t as Empathetic as We Are
Psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen, has delineated the male brain as a brain that is wired for “systemizing,” while the female brain is a brain that is wired for “empathizing.” This hardwiring likely correlates to evolutionary differences between men and women. Men, in their roles as the hunter and protector, needed the ability to be detached and kill animals and people to feed and defend their families. While women, as caregivers, needed the ability to nurture and raise their children.
In addition, it has been found that mirror neurons play a role in empathy as well. As their name implies, these particular neurons cause us to mirror actions and emotions that are depicted to us. Studies have found that women have more sensitive mirror neurons than men, allowing women to better detect and understand emotional cues.
5. Men Love Sports (…shocker)
Testosterone, testosterone, testosterone.
6. Men Have Feelings Too (….but don’t expect waterworks)
The reason for never seeing your boyfriend cry is twofold—social and biological. Socially constructed gender stereotypes have taught men to repress their emotions, leaving the “emotional stuff” to the women.
Nevertheless, biology also plays a large part in men’s sparse displays of waterworks. The amygdala is a part of the brain that controls emotional responses. In men, the amygdala communicates with just a select few parts of the brain, such as the visual cortex and the part that is responsible for movement. In women, the amygdala is more linked to the parts of the brain that control language, possibly explaining why women like to talk about their feelings so frequently. The amygdala is also connected to parts of the brain that are accountable for bodily functions, like heart rate, blood pressure and digestion, causing women to get a stomachache or headache when they are stressed or worried. Men and women still experience the same emotions; but men just cope with them in a different way, usually compartmentalizing their feelings.
Statistically, women cry four times as much as men do, most likely due to them having 60% more prolactin, a hormone that prompts crying, in their bodies. Lastly, men have smaller tear ducts, so they can’t produce the same amount of tears that women do.
So we can blame our hysterical tears during The Notebook on our hegemonic gender roles, amygdalas, prolactin, and giant tear ducts…I feel better.
7. Men Like Shopping
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, men spent just $246 less than women on clothing in 2004 and 2005, and they actually spent more on cars, restaurant cuisine, alcoholic drinks, and audiovisual equipment.
So, men like to spend money as well, just not in the same way that women do. Women like to spends hours shopping, looking at different dresses, shoes, and purses, whereas men would rather determine what they want beforehand, purchase it, and go home. According to Professor Daniel Kruger at the University of Michigan, this stark difference in shopping styles parallels some evolutionary trends. As we’ve talked about, men traditionally served as the hunters, and women as the gatherers. Women had the responsibility of locating the best spot for food and then searching through it carefully as to avoid selecting poisoned or rotten fruits, vegetables, and nuts. Inversely, men had to be quick with their selection of prey, immediately returning home to the defense of their families after their prey was captured.
8. Men Don’t Think About Sex 24/7
The most common and mythical stigma regarding men is their alleged obsession with sex, with thoughts of the act consuming every minute of their days. FALSE. According to the Kinsey Institute, 54% of men think about sex every day; however 43% only contemplate the act a few times a month or a few times a week, and a very tiny 4% consider the thought just once a month. The same study discovered that only 60% of men masturbated in the previous year…I’ll admit it, I’m very surprised.
Maybe women are the culprits of constant, amorous thoughts?
9. Men Have the Memory of a Baby Goldfish (…well maybe not that bad)
Women are detail-orientated when it comes to recalling specific events; their memories are much more precise, able to remember even the most monotonous facets of an occurrence.
Researchers have found that men and women use different parts of their brains to form memories. Studies have found that the emotional center of the brain plays a commanding role in women’s memories. When women are affected emotionally by something, they are more inclined to recollect every detail. In contrary, men are prone to have more visual and “tactical” memories, meaning they may be able to remember how to get from one place to another but will not be able to remember their own anniversaries.
10. Men Are Just as Talkative as Women
Men feel that women are always hounding them, while women feel that men never open up. This is due to the fact that usually men and women do not like to talk about the same things, making their differing conversational preferences to cause them to develop misperceptions of each others’ daily word count. If the two sexes were to listen to each other, it would be evident that both genders are quite garrulous. Studies have actually found that, if anything, men talk a little bit more.
Source: http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-sh…