27 Things Women Will Never Understand About Men (According To 27 Men)

Illustration by Daniella Urdinlaiz
Found on AskReddit.

1. We laugh, we cry, we hurt.

“Men have feelings. We laugh, we cry, we hurt. Please be aware of this and treat us with the same dignity that you wish to be treated. Don’t assume that we are giant uncaring boulders, and definitely don’t tell us to man up if we share our problems or (god forbid) cry.”

PM_SEXY_SELFIES


2. Sometimes we actually need to talk about our feelings, too.

“That sometimes I actually need / like to talk about my feelings.”

OmeYor


3. We don’t have the emotional support system that women do.

“I don’t know any man I could cry to or just be with if I’m feeling down and desperate. Sure we can relate, and we can complain to each other.”

Markolas_dj


4. Almost all of us view you as an actual human being; we don’t ‘objectify’ you.

“We 100% sincerely do not give a single solitary fuck about:

99% of your insecurities. You can safely drop 99% of your insecurities you have when interacting with men. We’re not looking at the small smudge on your shoe and thinking look at this tramp,’ we’re not judging you on the hue of your makeup product that we don’t even know exists.

Mind games. Don’t read too closely into what we say, every comment about some arbitrary action of yours is not some Sex and The City pseudo-intellectual jab at who you are as a human being.

Almost all of us view you as an actual human being, we don’t ‘objectify’ you, be more confident in the workplace. Yes, your opinion matters. No, no one is conspiring against you because you’re a woman. The only time I can see this being an issue is when like a female is artificially placed on a company’s board of directors for the sole purpose of being a female, but even then we don’t give that much of a shit, we’re cool with it after 2 seconds.

A confident woman is a poor man’s Viagra.”

infiniteplatypus


5. We don’t talk with each other about our girlfriends’ vaginas like you constantly talk with each other about guys’ dicks.

“In my experience, I’ve never chatted with the guys about my SO’s vagina. The fact that my ex had in depth conversations with her work friends regarding my penis is weird. And no, even if Sean isn’t REALLY a dickhead, I have no interest in what your friend has to say about his junk.”

ghazi_


6. Rejection hurts and is embarrassing.

“We don’t drop off the face of the earth after you reject us because we are angry. We do it because rejection hurts and is quite embarrassing.”

tallandlanky


7. Men don’t want ‘nothing but sex’; they just don’t want everything else without sex.

“Men don’t want ‘nothing but sex’; they just don’t want everything else without sex.”

theartlav


8. We do not pick up on hints…at all.

“Two things:

I have no idea what any of your outfits or articles of clothing will look like on you unless I’m actually seeing you in it. When you ask what I think of that dress and I say, ‘I have no idea,’ I have no idea. It looks like a dress.
When I say, ‘I don’t care,’ I actually mean it. When you ask me to pick between trivial things and I say I don’t care, it means it makes no difference to me at all one way or another. Pick what you want.

I do not pick up on hints…at all. If you want something, tell me.”

TheRealHooks


9. We don’t know what you want unless you tell us.

“We don’t know what you want unless you tell us. Romantically, sexually, emotionally, physically, hungerally, etc. Just…like, direct us a little bit.”

aussiaesop


10. Sometimes we just really want to be alone, and it has nothing to do with you.

“Sometimes I really just want to be alone to take a nap or play 50 hours of Breath of the Wild. It’s not that I don’t like you or I’m mad at you, I just really enjoy having my own life too… as should you.”

Volsohard11


11. Guys can call each other the most appalling names and still be great friends.

“Shit talking. Guys can call each other the most appalling names and still be great friends. Try calling a female friend a ‘useless sack of shit’ and see how that works for you.”

justacuriousguy123


12. We can enjoy your company in silence; it does not mean we are mad.

“We can enjoy your company in silence; it does not mean we are mad.”

numbtongues


13. The dating game is very hard on us.

“Probably the struggles of dating as a man. You absolutely have to be forward and proactive. You can’t just look pretty and hope someone will come when the time is right. You have to make the time right.

That also means if you’re shy you’re essentially fucked. I know plenty of good men whose only blockade is that they’re just too shy.”

jomb


14. Male friendships operate with an ignorant efficiency.

“The uncomplicated guy relationships. Yeah you get stressed with each other and shit happens but largely you forget about it in half an hour. I haven’t seen a female relationship operate with the ignorant efficiency or a guy’s friendship.”

Average-as-hell


15. Two guys can get into a fight and nearly immediately after become friends.

“The ability for two guys to get into a fight and nearly immediately after become friends. There’s a bond that gets built from punching someone in the face.”

-GregTheGreat-


16. Society puts a lot of pressure on us to ‘be a man.’

“Just how much pressure we feel to be a man, not from women but from each other as well. The competitive nature we have with each other and how self-destructive it can be if we don’t feel like were accomplishing something. masculinity can be a real double-edged sword, and often times when your struggling with your problems I know from experience it feels like there isn’t a place to vent.

I feel like most men don’t even understand the problems inherent with our fucked-up culture of masculinity let alone women and men.”

pmitch94


17. We crave compliments, too.

“That as men we crave compliments. Nothing will make us happier then to be told we look good, smell good, etc.

This is why, I believe at least, why we men tend to compliment women too much sometimes. We sometimes over use the golden rule, we treat women as we want to be treated.

I have worked with some pretty attractive men who would get hit on often which was nothing for them but the second someone actually complimented them they lit up like a god damn gorgeous Christmas tree.”

Betamaletim


18. When you play hard to get, we just assume you’re not interested.

“Most mature girls/women seem to understand but there’s still a fairly large subset who think that playing hard to get works. Perhaps it does on other guys.

I just say, ‘Oh you’re not interested’ and move on. It’s always funny when a few weeks later, her friend will ask me why I ghosted on the girl and tell me she wanted me to chase her and make her feel wanted.

I was like me taking her on a dinner date and trying to schedule a follow up date multiple times didn’t make her feel wanted?”

atworkaccount_


19. We didn’t choose the size of our dicks.

“We didn’t choose the size of our dicks.”

killaguy


20. It’s not cool for you to hit us.

“When girls ‘play’ punch it can hurt, when done repeatedly it hurts more. We won’t flinch and we’ll even laugh but in my head I’m like, ‘if you were a dude I swear to god.’”

Ella-Barker


21. When you say, ‘we don’t want you to fix it,’ what men really hear is ‘I’m only interested in complaining about it.’

“When you say, ‘we don’t want you to fix it,’ what men really hear is ‘I’m only interested in complaining about it.’

Taking the proverbial nail out of your forehead might do the trick, ya know?”

Kaarous


22. We’re not really allowed to explain anything.

“I’m really not allowed to explain anything. That would be ‘man-splaining’ and a no-no.”

Ricochet_girl


23. We don’t care about what color your nails are, how you did your hair, or what new shoes you bought.

“No guys really care about what color your nails are, how you did your hair, or what new shoes you bought. It’s all the same to us. If we like you for you, the rest of that shit doesn’t matter.”

thejabiskey


24. We are actually as emotional and sensitive as you.

“We are actually as emotional and sensitive as you, it’s just that societal norms dictate that we don’t express that lest we be emasculated.”

Wa1dofoo20XX


25. Rather than helping men and women get along, feminism subjects men to suspicion and outright derision.

“Being the subject of so much misinformation, suspicion and downright derision by people that should be the ones trying to help us the most.

Thanks, feminism.”

DonaldTrumpsWaifu


26. Men think and women feel.

“Most of the misunderstandings between the sexes boils down to this statement:

Men think and women feel….

Women CAN think and men CAN feel, but that’s not their normal way of interpreting what they observe.”

holybad


27. Guys socialize by insulting each other, but they really don’t mean it. Women socialize by complimenting each other, but they really don’t mean it, either.

“Guys socialize by insulting each other, but they really don’t mean it. Women socialize by complimenting each other, but they really don’t mean it, either. Guys don’t care as much about what friends say it’s all jokes and fun.”

iiiluminatii Thought Catalog Logo Mark

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