2008 Woodie Awards
Battle of the Sexes - Women
Stephanie McKiniey
Issue date: 10/14/05 Section: Opinion
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In general, men are as predictable as a mammal in the wild. There are always exceptions to the rule, but they certainly do not make up the majority; so today we focus on the phenomenon known only as: man.
It's quite disturbing, I must note, that even though I am deeply in love with a man whom I plan to marry, it was still remarkably easy to comprise a list of several "flaws" I believe every man possesses.
I'm not even going to explore what's wrong with guys when they're in dating mode because then we would be here all day and I'd probably walk away from this computer feeling like a Man-Eater.
I'm simply going to fast forward to examining the man when he is in a relationship. First of all, try as they might, we all know that men are consistently and devastatingly clueless about women. Now, that's not to say (or perhaps it is?) the dork in the quad got a pretty girl on his arm out of sheer luck. I'm confident that some guys are genuinely fond of their lady friend, and would do or say anything to keep her smiling; in the beginning.
For anyone who has ever made it passed the six-month mark with that special someone, you will notice that two things slowly begin to change around this point. Men are what I like to call "emotionally lazy." Making a relationship last requires a team effort, and what some guys maybe don't realize is that it's going to exhaust a lot of their mental and emotional energy to make us (women) happy.
In my last relationship, I was the giver and he was the taker. Every time he had a problem I spent hours talking to him, reassuring him that everything would be okay, and coming up with solutions to right the wrong in his life. It got to the point that whenever my ex was upset, he'd turn to me and say, "fix it."
Just one time I would've loved for this guy to have been able to fix my problems, but instead I was left out in the cold. Whenever I was sad or ticked off, all he could do was make jokes to try and lighten the mood. To this day, nothing sends me off the deep end faster than a fool who cannot grasp the severity of which I am feeling a negative emotion.
It's quite disturbing, I must note, that even though I am deeply in love with a man whom I plan to marry, it was still remarkably easy to comprise a list of several "flaws" I believe every man possesses.
I'm not even going to explore what's wrong with guys when they're in dating mode because then we would be here all day and I'd probably walk away from this computer feeling like a Man-Eater.
I'm simply going to fast forward to examining the man when he is in a relationship. First of all, try as they might, we all know that men are consistently and devastatingly clueless about women. Now, that's not to say (or perhaps it is?) the dork in the quad got a pretty girl on his arm out of sheer luck. I'm confident that some guys are genuinely fond of their lady friend, and would do or say anything to keep her smiling; in the beginning.
For anyone who has ever made it passed the six-month mark with that special someone, you will notice that two things slowly begin to change around this point. Men are what I like to call "emotionally lazy." Making a relationship last requires a team effort, and what some guys maybe don't realize is that it's going to exhaust a lot of their mental and emotional energy to make us (women) happy.
In my last relationship, I was the giver and he was the taker. Every time he had a problem I spent hours talking to him, reassuring him that everything would be okay, and coming up with solutions to right the wrong in his life. It got to the point that whenever my ex was upset, he'd turn to me and say, "fix it."
Just one time I would've loved for this guy to have been able to fix my problems, but instead I was left out in the cold. Whenever I was sad or ticked off, all he could do was make jokes to try and lighten the mood. To this day, nothing sends me off the deep end faster than a fool who cannot grasp the severity of which I am feeling a negative emotion.