The ongoing battle of the sexes

A few days ago, a friend happened to gift me Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus, and while I still haven't had the time to go through the book,u00a0the title got me thinking, Are we actually so different, so as to be considered from different, so as to be considered from different planets? Indeed, my reflection did give me the extent of difference between the genders (behavioural ones, not the obvious biological ones), and my own viewpoint on the battle of the sexes.

For one, considering marriage, from what I gather from my interaction with friends is that the main motive behind women willing to tie the knot is to have someone bare their heart to, or to be more precise, a set of ears to listen to them. On the other hand, the main motive behind men wanting to get married is to have a regular physical partner, and they not having to go through the trouble of actually talking to a girl, to get intimate with her. Does seem a point of possible contention, isn't it?

For women, "open communication" about their feelings, where the relationship is heard, etc, seems to be of paramount importance. On the other hand, for men, successful "open communication" is something they do unwillingly to satisfy their partner. Being able to stay awake while their spouse is chatting and giving a nod or two at the right moment is a success for them. They make it seem as if they are listening and interested, while actually playing Tendulkar's latest knock over and over in their head at the same time.

Men prefer to talk about business, politics, sports or sex and crack jokes about these topics. While women usually go blank on hearing such jokes. As per a guy, a girl who laughs at his jokes has a good sense of humour otherwise she lacks a sense of humour.

A bunch of girls at a party will always go to the restroom together. Men would never do that. You wouldn't see a guy asking his pals to accompany him to the toilet. And going alone to the toilet in a gathering is something women would be seldom seen doing.

Women crave for small things in life, like guys remembering their birthdays, anniversaries, giving them small gifts, telling them that they care. Men hardly bother for these things. And forgetting these occasions is a capital crime in the eyes of a woman, who would never forget that the man forgot something. Though, men would try their level best to forget their mistakes.
And finally, something that I once read on a forward e-mail and sounds very true to me. Women usually get into a relationship with a man, hoping that he would change. But he usually does not. On the other hand, men get into a relationship with women, hoping they would never change. But ironically, they do.

Having said that, in today's world these small, cute little differences would actually help men and women preserve their identities, and be what they are. And thus, the conflict between the two genders will always continue.