Physics Geek

True dat

Somehow I missed this article by Michael Crichton originally published in Playboy back in 1989. You know, back when I was :cough-cough:: reading the articles. Anyway, excerpt:

Are men inarticulate? Sure, sometimes. Expressing deep feelings is difficult, especially if you've been told—as most males have, even in our postmodern age—that to express your feelings is unmanly.

But I don't really see women able to express their feelings any better. Women like to talk about feelings, as men like to talk about football and computers. But when it comes to talking about your own feelings, I find that women suddenly stumble. In the workplace, around the dinner table, on that big date, I am not aware that a woman has an easier time expressing the hard truths: that her feelings are hurt, or something made her feel bad, or that she feels weak or sad or inadequate.

I don't see women powering through their psychotherapy faster than men, because they have easier access to their feelings.

I don't see lesbian relationships going more smoothly than heterosexual relationships.

I don't see friendships between women going more smoothly than friendships between men. Plenty of female friendships collapse into nastiness and rancor.
In short, I don't see any real evidence that women handle their feelings better than men: most child abuse occurs in single-parent families headed by women.
And so, I think the stereotype of the inarticulate, emotionally unexpressive male is simply untrue. The truth is that expressing a deep feeling of hurt or fear or inadequacy—or love—is difficult for anybody, male or female.

Well worth the read.

Thanks to Conservative Propaganda for the link/

Posted by Physics Geek at April 28, 2009 08:22 AM | TrackBack Stumble It!