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Many men and women have difficulty having fulfilling conversations. In essence, men and women really do not know what to say to one another, as revealed by a lovely 30-year-old news reporter that told me she broke up with her boyfriend, whom she had been dating for one year. When I asked her what happened, she answered, “He was just too boring. He was a sports reporter, and all he ever talked about was sports and his Corvette. He never wanted to talk about things which I found interesting. ”
This is an all too common problem.
The differences in what men and women talk about was extremely interesting to Edward. He attended his first baby shower and had the honor of being the only male in a roomful of women. At the shower, Edward learned who was having an affair, who was divorcing, and who was now available. He heard about labor pains, menstrual cramps, and detailed accounts of varied “female-related” surgeries. He even learned that one woman’s pubic hair never grew back after her hysterectomy. He discovered which guys were “great in bed and why,” and how to give yourself a facial that only takes five minutes.
Interesting topic - eh? (I suppose that depends on which gender you belong.
In a recent study by Dr. Adelaide Haas at State University of New York, department of Speech Communication, she found that the most common topics discussed by females were: 1) men 2) food 3) relationship or family problems, and 4) clothing.
Other topics that women talked about were news events and work-related Issues.
Women like to discuss feelings as well as more socially oriented issues.
On the other hand, Dr. Haas found that men talked more about 1) women 2) news events 3) sports 4) arts, and 5) sex.
In order to have a meaningful conversation with the opposite sex, one must become aware of this difference in likes and dislikes. It is essential for women to be more willing to talk about activities and related issues, as men do. If you don’t know anything about these topics, learn about them. Just watch the news and listen to sports.
On the other hand, if men want to have better conversations with women, they need to pay more attention to interpersonal relationships, other people, situations, and self-improvement. If both sexes equally make this effort of learning what the other sex wants to talk about, we can certainly help bridge the conversational gap between men and women.
