Girls vs Boys: Are they that different?!

Recently, it has come to my attention that I tend to over analyze many aspects about guys and what they may or may not be thinking. HA! Who am I kidding, I have always known this about myself but it has become more apparent as I talk to different guys and try and start relationships with them (ya know since you are apparently supposed to have a husband as you graduate from college). I know many women are in the same boat since many of us are told how we read into every little word or action made by a man. Many of us women are always thinking “well what does that mean” or “I wonder why he said that.” At least, this is the case for me. I have had numerous conversations with my friends about why a guy said what he said or what it could mean that he decided to remain silent about a certain topic etc…And then, my aunt sent me this email…

The email contained a long conversation between a man and a woman (who are seeing each other exclusively) as they ride home from a night out. The title of this article/post reads “The Difference Between Men and Women. This is Genius.” Unfortunately the link for this article no longer works but here is a similar story from the same website. However the email went a little something like this…

(Martha) says it aloud: “Do you realize that, as of tonight, we’ve been seeing each other for exactly six months?”

And then, there is silence in the car.

To Martha, it seems like a very loud silence. She thinks to herself: I wonder if it bothers him that I said that. Maybe he’s been feeling confined by our relationship; maybe he thinks I’m trying to push him into some kind of obligation that he doesn’t want, or isn’t sure of.

And Fred is thinking: Gosh. Six months.

And Martha is thinking: But, hey, I’m not so sure I want this kind of relationship either. Sometimes I wish I had a little more space, so I’d have time to think about whether I really want us to keep going the way we are, moving steadily towards, I mean, where are we going? Are we just going to keep seeing each other at this level of intimacy? Are we heading toward marriage? Toward children?…

And Fred is thinking: …so that means it was…let’s see…February when we started going out, which was right after I had the car at the dealer’s, which means…lemme check the odometer…Whoa! I am way overdue for an oil change here.”

The conversation continues with Martha “freaking out” and looking into everything that Fred is doing, his silence, his face, his body language. All the while Frank continues to spiral into a sea of thoughts about his car and many details about the warranty. Finally it ends with Martha saying she doesn’t want Fred to torture himself like this and she starts to cry. While Fred looks confused and bewildered at where this is coming from all of a sudden.

While it is a little extreme to say that she would start crying without even a response from Fred saying that he feels tortured, I have to wonder, are guys really that simplistic?

I asked one of my guy friends what his response to this conversation was and he seemed to agree that men tend to be pretty straight forward. What I found interesting in his response was when he said that “to some guys, how women think makes men feel like it would be really difficult to try and understand their thoughts.”

The conversation ends with Martha wanting to take time away, calling all her friends and talking about the interaction for hours/ weeks on end while Fred responded with a simple “yes” then went home and watched a basketball game and played racquetball with his friends.

I really want some opinions on this. At first, it made me feel a little better to realize that I might not be the only girl out there who overthinks every detail of a guy interaction (which I do not do all the time). Then I was thinking that maybe it is a communication issue or maybe girls need to better explain themselves or hey! Ask the guy a straightforward question instead of beating around the bush. There is also the thought that maybe this is a good realization for women in that we should not read into everything but shouldn’t Fred have tried to figure out what she was thinking instead of just responding with one word?

Opinions? Is this an issue that you face??