What are some of your viewpoints?
Why do you think men misunderstand women so much more than women misunderstand men in reference to dating and intimacy?

In my opinion, more men seem to have such unrealistic, impractical, and completely false ideas about what women like, want, and are attracted to in a man. This is in comparison to women understanding men better than men understanding women. Now, I don’t think women are more complicated than men per se, rather, I think a wider array of factors contribute to this disparity. I believe men and women both spread rumors upon each other about the opposite sex, get misinformed by various influences, etc. but I think there’s something different happening on the men’s side that isn’t on the women’s. I also think men tend to think that women like them the same way that they like women. There’s many things at play so I didn’t provide an exhaustive list.
What are some of your viewpoints?
What are some of your viewpoints?
Updates:
11Girl Opinion
27Guy Opinion
- I answered this question by another user here:
Why don't men understand what women want? ↗
I think that it has mostly to do with mis-communication. Women might say they like a certain thing and men take it the wrong way. Other women will understand what she's saying while guys will still be confused as to what it really means.
I think that women are often quite vague about what they want too, when giving dating advice. It's not like most people think deeply about it so maybe they don't articulate it well, in a way that would actually help men to understand them better.
Sometimes I think that there's a difference between what attracts women deep down vs what they're taught they're supposed to like, dislike etc. Many studies for example point to the fact that women prefer dominant men. In those studies when they ask women whether they like dominant men they all say no - of course because that's not a politically correct idea. They're taught that they should be equals. Yet when the interviewers change the wording and ask about traits that have to do with dominance i. e. leadership qualities, assertiveness, confidence etc. They all respond positively. So in my opinion a lot of that is just a socially conditioned, knee-jerk negative reaction.
I think that really underneath all of that conditioning they're attracted to something different. It's the same with a lot of other things. Studies show that women prefer men who have muscular upper bodies - not huge bodybuilder types, just signs of good upper body strength. Ask most women about that and they'll say they hate muscles. It's common sense that women prefer muscular or athletic men, any guy who has gone from being skinny or fat to muscular will have seen the difference in the way women react to him, but I think they react that way because they think that's the "right answer".
This kind of thing confuses the fuck out of guys too. Women aren't actually that hard to understand if instead of asking them what they want, you take more notice of the way they behave.
I also don't think that women properly understand men either, at all.
Most Helpful Girls
- You know what i like about you, EtP? I like that you actually think about these things, and you write a paragraph or more about what you are thinking. You don't just create a thesis statement, with nothing to back it up, and then want us us to expand on the idea. Many people do this, and I find it a bit odd. I'd like to know where the person's head is at. It appears that they may do this to create an impartial survey, without any leading comments, but I believe that's what polls are ideally suited to or ideal for.
This is such a complicated topic though. I read through everyone's comments, and I still don't know what to think or write. I don't have a strong feeling about this. I'm not sure I agree or believe that women understand men more than men understand women. But what I would say for sure is that there is a much higher degree of resentment and hostility from men towards women (I should say, young guys to young girls) than the other way around. I even polled and measured this, so yeah, confirmed. Men are misunderstanding women, also true. Hmm. Maybe I am agreeing with you here, the more I think about it. See, many young guys (up to about the age of 28, I'm seeing as quite consistent) are very negatively describing and labelling girls (up to about the same age), and I do think these labels and many of the descriptors and conclusions are false. And I believe though they present as anger, underneath they are about fear and resentment, from feeling judged and rejected. So in that way, yes maybe the females understand better. I am reluctant to say that "girls understand better/more" but your phrasing is that men misunderstand more, so even if I just isolate this to 'the amount of hostility that girls feel towards guys', and the specific reasons that guys get turned down when they initiate something with a girl... I know based on my qs here that some young men are misinterpreting these reasons.
Reading through the comments here, you see just what I'm (and maybe you are) talking about. There's a bunch of people who are being very reasonable, but there are a bunch who are very bitter/angry. Makes you wonder why, what have they experienced? There could be more than just bad luck or seeing or experiencing unwavering and wholly complete patterns of behaviour happening out there. I don't buy it. I've easily read hundreds, if not thousands, of comments on this site now, and I do think much of this discord is misinterpretation. Not all, by any means, and, one should not completely invalidate the experiences that people have. But as I often say, perspective and objectivity are key. (I'll just summarize that with a quick 'glass half empty' to get my point across hopefully succinctly.) Also, I see more judgement, and less acceptance out there, so also, people don't seem to be treating each other as well as they used to, or as well as they should. (Why? Holy f*** that's a big q.)
I do think women are emotionally more complex. But I do not believe, as one user here commented, that girls think men have "no feelings" or just want them for sex (ok, a lot of guys do want them just for sex, but if girls say "some do" that does not mean "all", nor does it take away from the fact that girls have to act more carefully, to prevent being just another notch post on a bed, or being saddled with a child they don't want or can't afford. "No feelings" is totally ridiculous. Saying things like that just makes me lose interest in discussing things further with them. (As well as use of the words "never" and "always". Come on. That's absolutist thinking and who's got time for that.
- Judging from what I have seen here on GaG I would say that many guys are prejudiced against women.
And honestly, making decisions based on something you "believe to be so, because that's what I think" and refusing to see clearly what is in front of you, doesn't do you any favours.
Of course this can apply to both genders, but I have seen only more in guys.
I am certain that things would be a lot better in the dating scene if we could all toss aside common myths and focus on the person in front of us.
Yes, there are some common behaviours, and this is the so called magnet effect. You draw what you wish for. If you are constantly thinking that a woman is trying to get your money and has no feelings then that's what you'll get.
But there are always exceptions, and if you are stubbornly clinging on your prejudices, then you will miss your exception!
Related Questions
What Girls & Guys Said
825Related myTakes
Click "Show More" for your mentions
Most Helpful Opinion(mho) Rate.
Learn more
Learn more
Most Helpful Guys