I was listening to my ipod when Beyonce's, "If I Were a Boy" came on and something suddenly resonated with me that hadn't before. While I disagree with many of the lyrics, the concept intrigued me. In the song, she claims that if she were a boy, someday it would make her a better man. This got me thinking...
I thought about the many misconceptions about and between men and women. For such a modern society, it baffles me that we are still so eluded by gender differences at times. Women's perception of men can be so off-base and men do not have any idea what makes women tick at moments. It surprises me because I see our humanity as our common bond and don't always acknowledge that there may really be some inherent differences in the way we approach things.
I have been fortunate enough to have had some good relationships and some great friendships with men. I have found that, in some of the better relationships, we were able to just have honest conversations with each other and most of the "mysteries" were solved. It is not always easy to put your pride aside and ask someone what really just happened. The trickiest part is finding a partner that is willing to do the same. The most astonishing part is what the person was reacting to is almost never what the other party originally believed.
If you just go by old stereotypes and what you suspect the other person was thinking, you're often wrong. Some of these thoughts and beliefs are so ingrained in us that we make assumptions about the opposite sex and never bother to really ask. It can be so embedded in us that we don't, or won't, believe anything to the contrary.
In short, I have to maintain that our humanity unites us more than our gender divides us. Yes, there are some innate differences in our approaches to things, but if we can understand, explain and accept them about each other then I don't see why we can't move past old-school thinking and into a new era on how we view relationships.