A Short Musing on Men and Women

This is why Kurt Vonnegut is among my favorite writers. Here is a quote from “A Man Without A Country:”

“Freud said he didn’t know what women wanted. I know what women want: a whole lot of people to talk to. What do they want to talk about? They want to talk about everything. What do men want? They want lots of pals, and they wish people wouldn’t get so mad at them.”

I’ve taken a short poll (insert your own joke here; I’m tired) and found this to be generally true. This is probably why you’ll never find a male version of “The View” or “Oprah.” Yes, there’s Dr. Phil and that new guy who promises to be the young Dr. Phil, but who’s in the audience? Women. Who buys books about relationships? Women. Men just seem to want someone to figure it all out and then tell them what to do. Which is why women tend to be the ones who plan the bulk of the wedding. Which is why you don’t hear too many man say, “Honey, why don’t we try couples counseling?” Which, in my opinion, is all well and good. Everyone needs to have a role in life. We could go on and on about this Mars/Venus thing but when you get right down to the nuts and bolts of it, there is a reason why there are nuts and bolts. Men and women complement each other.

And our orbits are closer together than a lot of people think. For instance, who doesn’t want:

1. Someone to love.
2. Someone who will tell you when you have something stuck in your teeth.
3. Someone who will get all excited for you when you’ve done something good.
4. Someone who will still love you when you’ve done something bad.

OK, a dog can do a lot of these things (save for the stuff stuck in your teeth), but a dog won’t laugh at your jokes or buy you your favorite treat if they happen to be near the place that sells your favorite treats.

We all want love (even if we claim we don’t), we all want praise, we all want comfort, we want someone who will watch our backs.

And I think Freud didn’t know what women wanted because he was too full of himself to ask. If he asked, she’d probably say, “What I want is for you to stop talking about sex, you misogynistic old fart, and do the dishes once in a while. And another thing…”

And then he’d go out and find his pals and go to some place that doesn’t allow women so he won’t get yelled at anymore.