I get many mails with requests for my thoughts on why boys and girls think so differently. Never claiming to be an expert and never delivering any straight answers, I thought I would throw you some of my observations.
One clear illustration of the space between us is displayed when entering a hotel room. A girl will immediately check out how good the bathroom is and check the wardrobes, whereas a boy heads straight for the remote control to see what TV channels are on the network. TV etiquette polarises many of the differences - is it just me, or do we like to have the full surround sound home theatre audio up much louder than our female friends are comfortable with? Sometimes when I see those green digital bars on screen showing the lowering of the sound, it could almost be a measure of how much my girlfriend's tolerance of me is sinking. When we get to "mute" I will think about making some concessions!
Somehow it seems that boys are always seeking fun and entertainment rather than practicality no matter how old we get. Grown men like myself will play football for that competitive rush way beyond the years that a girl would consider spending an inordinate amount of time playing games. I think this feeling of playing for longer is also increasing generation to generation. I don't think men of former generations would necessarily remain playing in sandpits with buckets and spades into their later years, yet I find it amazing that sitting at lunch with the boys with careers, families and huge responsibilities, we find most of us are still demons at Fifa '11 or desperately trying to finish Grand Theft Auto!
I mentioned earlier how boys and girls seem to approach shopping from different perspectives. As you may recall, I feel that boys have a fixed item in mind to shop for, whereby girls want to undertake a shopping safari. We are left confused not knowing if we are there looking for couture or cushions! This is perplexing when asked for an opinion on a prospective purchase if, say, a beanbag is being held up for our comment, and we are assuming that we are looking for an outfit for a wedding.
They do say that the best things in life are worth working for… and to realise the points of difference and work towards accommodating them for sweet harmony is our challenge. If that means for the TV to stay at full volume, I have to accept that my bathroom will be full of lots of cotton wool, mysteriously fashioned into lots of different shapes for supposed different purposes, then that's not such a bad thing!
Modern-Man-ily Yours
G*Nice