Communication Breakdown Part 2

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From Glamour magazine, 11 Things Guys Just Don’t Understand
about Women, it seems that the biggest beef men have with women is that
they can’t understand our style of communication.  Seriously, six of the eleven things were
about communication!

Men and women have very different styles of communication.  I know, newsflash, right?  Let me break it down and offer some tips to
improve communication between the sexes. 
There are five major differences in communication between men and women,
in my personal experience. 

The second major difference in communication styles between men and women is
the distinction between direct and indirect communication, specifically when it
comes to making and agreeing to a request.

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Socially, men are conditioned to make direct requests, and to expect those
requests to be either honored or rejected. 
In other words, he asks for something, and receives a clear “yes” or
“no” in response.  Women are conditioned
in a way that, if we make requests at all, they’re done indirectly.  And often, when a woman responds, she might
not be saying what she really means. 
This is understandably maddening to men. 
Why would she do that?

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Women are socialized to believe that selfish is a four letter word.  By the time most women grow into adulthood,
we’ve had years of practice getting what we need without directly requesting
it, or settling for less than what we really want.  We feel guilty saying “no” to a request from
someone we love, even if it’s inconvenient for us or goes against what we
really want.

This baffles the minds of men, and causes arguments in most
relationships.  For example, the man will
ask if he can go out with the guys Friday night.  The woman says, “Yes, of course, you don’t
have to ask permission!” and then sulks for the rest of the weekend.  Translation: 
“Yes, honey, you can go out with the guys.  But if you have too much fun or stay out late
I’m going to worry that you like them more than you like me.”