04-30-2003, 10:34 PM
Real people are a tad bit more complex than that.
That retort can be made in response to virtually any generalization or stereotype about people, and rightly so. But I think that the perceived trend on which this thread is based is has grounding in reality, and not just TV sitcoms. Compare how men react vs. how women react at an emotionally charged event like a wedding or a funeral. Consider how certain movies came to be dubbed "chick flicks". An example that comes to my own mind is our family Christmas parties and such; from what I've seen the women usually actually talk about the family, whereas the men talk about less personal things like cars and politics.
It is comedic hyperbole to suggest that these differences create some communication barrier that requires a decoder ring to break through. But I don't think it is a big stretch to say that more often than not, men are likely to guard their feelings and women are likely to express them.
That retort can be made in response to virtually any generalization or stereotype about people, and rightly so. But I think that the perceived trend on which this thread is based is has grounding in reality, and not just TV sitcoms. Compare how men react vs. how women react at an emotionally charged event like a wedding or a funeral. Consider how certain movies came to be dubbed "chick flicks". An example that comes to my own mind is our family Christmas parties and such; from what I've seen the women usually actually talk about the family, whereas the men talk about less personal things like cars and politics.
It is comedic hyperbole to suggest that these differences create some communication barrier that requires a decoder ring to break through. But I don't think it is a big stretch to say that more often than not, men are likely to guard their feelings and women are likely to express them.