Men are just different creatures!

[Guest SisterofJared]

I'm visiting with my sister in Arizona. She has three sons. I also have two sons. But the difference is... my boys have six sisters sprinkled in there, which I discovered years ago really changes the way little boys play. Her boys have always been much more frankly "male." When my boys are with hers... they are much more frankly male also.

So last night I'm watching and listening to two of my nephews and my son. They're tossing Chuck Norris jokes off of each other, and other movie quotes and laughing their heads off, having a great old time. The women in the room smile at an occasional chuck norris joke, but most of everything else leaves us scratching our heads. Huh? There was a joke there? We don't get it, but the men are roaring with laughter.

One of the little kids (son & nephew are all adults and their kids are here, too) comes in making little boy noises. So we get into a discussion about this study done with kids.... they took a bunch of toddlers and put them in a room and observed through a two way mirror. Of the little girls, 100% of what came out of their mouths was words. Of the little boys, 60% was vocabulary, and 40% was noises. Sounds effects, if you will.

My husband must have been one of the participants in this study.... he's very good at the 40%. Once he saw a great looking convertable... pointed at it and let out a grunt. I told him a woman would have said, "That's a nice car!" And he told he had said the same thing, only in fewer words. I wondered last night how we're supposed to know the difference between, "That's a nice car!" and "I'm constipated!" My nephew told me that my husband pointed at the car when he grunted, therefore he was saying, "that's a nice car!" If he had been saying, "I'm constipated!" he would have pointed at the toilet. LOL.

So my nephew tells me of a different study. They put men and women in a room, each alone, with blank empty walls, sound proofed, nothing to stimulate the senses at all, and left them for hours and then afterwards asked them what they thought about. Overwhelmingly men thoughts about two things, women about one. Women thought about past conversations. Men thought about sports and sex. He says men think about sports and sex even without being in an empty room. Every minute or so, he says.

I can totally see the women thinking about conversations... not necessarily all past conversations, because I can find myself thinking about future conversations easily. But I find myself just totally amazed and puzzled at why men would spend a lot of time actually thinking about sex and sports. Not that either are bad.... but actually just sitting around thinking about them! My nephew laughs and says men don't think about past conversations because they generally don't even REMEMBER them!

I think of many men that I know, and it seems impossible to me that they are really thinking about sports and sex all the time. Either most men are just vastly different than I know... which I am beginning to believe... or maybe it's just my nephews. They're good men.. RMs and all. But I truly begin to wonder what the male beast is like on the inside.... how does one blend the idea of the"spiritual leader, business man,husband, father... with the guy who wants a naked blonde sitting by him while he watches the game???

Sister of Jared

[Gwen]

lol, sorry i have nothing useful to add to this for ya, just thought it was funny.

[Guest ceeboo]

Hello SisterofJared, :)

You forgot food ( sex, sports, and indeed food :))

[MarginOfError]

The studies you cite appear to have missed one of the aspects of male thought. Men want to be good at everything they do. So they don't think about sports and sex. They think about being good at sports and being really good at sex.

You see, sports and sex do us no good if we can't brag about them to our friends.

[Guest tomk]

This thread made me smile.

It's true. Men grunt. It's a time-saver, really.

We are also much much more visual creatures, which probably explains why pornography tends to be much more a male addiction (at least that is my perception) and why men struggle more with the "lust of their eyes."

At home, my wife tends to be the nurturer, whereas I am more playful and at times am called upon to be more stern. My wife pointed out to me that one reason for this, in her eyes, is that as the mother, she must remain the soft shoulder to cry on...the one our children can always come to. When she has gotten "mean" with them in the past, they have always kind of freaked out a little -- because NOW who do they go to if Momma is mad at them? They can't go to Dad...all he'll do is grunt. That is why she looks to me to be the disciplinarian. Sort of a bad cop, good cop setup. I get to be the bad cop, but I am also more playful. It's in interesting mix.

[applepansy]

I call this behavior in men "testosterone poisoning"

Having said that I'd like to add. . . we are sent here to overcome the deisres of the flesh. Some men and women are better at this than others. Men are capable of thinking about more than sports, sex and food. And women are capable of more than just thinking about conversations.

Our loving Heavenly Father made us different on purpose. Men are the providers. They are wired to think about providing, protecting, procreating, etc. Women are the nurturers, we are wired to make the most of what men provide. Children don't do as well with only one parent as they do when there are both parents. (There are lots of studies on this)

The wisdom of our Heavenly Father is amazing. . .

If we were all the same the world would be so boring.

applepansy

P.S. I'm still looking for a giggle button next to the thanks button.

[Guest DeborahC]

This made me laugh. I have 3 sons so I'm used to it.

[Hemidakota]

I don't know about thinking about SPORTS or SEX but one of curiosity of the universe for me and that I may add - CARS. LOL

[breezygirl]

I was watching a show on TV a few years back about the differences between men and womens brains and how they function. On this show they did a medical scan of somekind of both sexes brains during wake periods and sleep periods. One of the most amazing things I learned on that show was that womens brains literally never stopped thinking. Even during sleep some part of their brain was always active and thinking, men however have periods of time in which their brains are completely inactive.....no thought processing at all. This happened both when they were awake and when they were asleep. Basically they had moments when they were simply breathing digesting ...ect. Automatic type stuff. So the lesson here was that when you ask a man "What are you thinking about" and he answers "Nothing" its probablly literally true.

[checkerboy]

Hahaha. Ok well there is absolutely nothing wrong with thinking about sports and sex. If women spent more time thinking about those things I am sure lots of relationships would be saved. Now on the other hand guys probably need to think about past conversations more so that they can remember the things their wives have hinted at and thus... you guessed it, save more relationships.

Basically girls, try thinking like a man sometime and you will be surprised at how fun it is!!! I never understood why my wife couldn't just relax like I could. But apparently her brain wouldn't let her!

[siouxz72]

tee hee hee!! My daddy is the master grunter. It's amazing the whole paragraph's he can convey with one grunt. Everything from a simple "I love you" to "Susan Rebecca, you better get in that room and get it cleaned up before I go in there and clean it up for you. Heaven help you if I have to actually say the words to get you in that room to make that bed and clean up those clothes!!!" Luckily I speak grunt so I was alway able to understand what he meant.

[Gatsby]

This thread is funny! But I think it's just a stereotype, not all men, perhaps most men have does two things on their mind all the time.

[BenRaines]

Oh I thought IT was a sport :)

Ben Raines

[Truegrits]

Ummm; None of the men in my life have been "grunters". Most of them talk more than I do! My father does not talk much; truly a man of few words; but he does not grunt. I guess I have missed out on that "manly" trait...

[OneEternalSonata]

I've never learned grunt-ology, myself. lol

[Starfish]

Okay, what about the spitting thing? I mean why do guys do it? Especially on sidewalks. Yuk! Don't give me the "too much phlegm" excuse. Swallow, for heaven's sake. If a bug flies into your mouth, then go ahead, but really . . how often does that happen?

[piper]

I was watching a show on TV a few years back about the differences between men and womens brains and how they function. On this show they did a medical scan of somekind of both sexes brains during wake periods and sleep periods. One of the most amazing things I learned on that show was that womens brains literally never stopped thinking. Even during sleep some part of their brain was always active and thinking, men however have periods of time in which their brains are completely inactive.....no thought processing at all. This happened both when they were awake and when they were asleep. Basically they had moments when they were simply breathing digesting ...ect. Automatic type stuff. So the lesson here was that when you ask a man "What are you thinking about" and he answers "Nothing" its probablly literally true.

Stop by my profile and watch the bottom video :) it explains a lot lol.

[countrygirl66]

Had a conversation with my h went like this.

me (how do you deal with emotional pain?) h (huh?) me (i want to know how you cope with emotional pain you feel?) h (what do you mean?) me (Like how do you deal with it when it hurts so much that your heart is really sad?) h (I am not really sure what your talking about) me (I am going to call a girl who will know what I am talking about) h (ok) this has made me smile all week as I have thought about it. By the way me and my friend had a great conversation about this.

[Over43]

I think the word: creatue, that you used describes males quite well. We do things that females would never think of doing. Being dumb is part of our genetic code.

O43

[MorningStar]

I sat in a blank room and thought about cuddling and figure skating. I'm halfway there if you count figure skating as a sport.

[Iggy]

I think the word: creature, that you used describes males quite well. We do things that females would never think of doing. Being dumb is part of our genetic code.

O43

Ahem, ACTING dumb is more like it. It is a safety mechanism. Similar to when a puppy is getting scolded by it's mother it cowers and pees.

When an animal is being chased by it's natural enemy, it urinates and that discourages the attacker.

When a man is being asked questions by his beloved spouse that he isn't in the mood to answer, or doesn't want to answer - he acts dumb.

If he truly was as dumb as he wants everyone to believe he is, he never would have survived childhood to become an adult!

My father was not a grunter. My mother's brothers were. The difference in their lives. Mom listened to Dad when he talked and he listened to her. With my uncles, their Mother was a broadcaster. She never gave one an opportunity to discuss, to engage in conversation. She was like a radio with no Off button.

My uncles married women who were like that too. Broadcasters. Not communicators.

My first husband was a broadcaster of the highest degree. My second husband is a communicator. My first husband was a mumbler/grunter. My second husband most definitely isn't.

[checkerboy]

I think what over43 meant was we do dumb things. Like for instance when I was younger we (the guys) would get together late at night and hop the fence at the local swimming pool and run across the tarps. While that was both illegal and highly dangerous I seriously doubt that many women would have thought it up.

Another thing I do as a guy is not pay as much attention to my boys when we are out doing stuff. If I haven't heard a scream then I assume things are going ok. That is dumb. But I am not wired to be a mother hen and always gather them under my wing.

So yeah guys do some pretty dumb things. I chalk it up to the "If I can do this then maybe I can impress that girl over there" factor.

[zookeeper]

I think what over43 meant was we do dumb things. Like for instance when I was younger we (the guys) would get together late at night and hop the fence at the local swimming pool and run across the tarps. While that was both illegal and highly dangerous I seriously doubt that many women would have thought it up.

Another thing I do as a guy is not pay as much attention to my boys when we are out doing stuff. If I haven't heard a scream then I assume things are going ok. That is dumb. But I am not wired to be a mother hen and always gather them under my wing.

So yeah guys do some pretty dumb things. I chalk it up to the "If I can do this then maybe I can impress that girl over there" factor.

Yeah, my husband did some really reckless things as a teen. Luckily now he's content with paintball guns and basketball. Unfortunately, it seems to be the mothers who get the gray hair when their boys are boys. Of course, I gave my parents a little stress when I was a teen. But nothing like my brother!!!

[Guest SisterofJared]

ROFL! Some great answers. So... it appears that my nephews are correct! I'm hearing some interesting things, and actually it is helping me to understand my husband a bit more. The man makes more noise tying his shoes than I do having a baby! LOL. But that isn't the main thing....

I find Breezy's comment and Piper's video quite informative. For our entire marriage, I thought it was flat out wierd that my husband can think of "nothing." In fact, many times I've asked, just like the lady in the video..."What are you thinking?" and when he said, "nothing" I would say "You can't think of nothing. It's not possible for your brain to be a blank slate. You HAVE to be thinking of something!" I have envied him the ability to sleep. He lays down, closes his eyes, and goes to sleep. I lay down and hold imaginary conversations, going over the events of the day, planning the next day, even daydreaming stories. I can make myself bawl just thinking about things that never happened, and probably won't ever happen. One thing I cannot do is stop my brain. I thought this was just normal human behavior.... didn't understand until I read Breezy's post that this is normal FEMALE behavior.

And checkerboy, your comment about doing dumb things... last night my nephew told me he is training to be a fighter. I told him it puzzled me.... I just don't understand why anyone would love to fight. And he said, "You know -you're right. It is puzzling, and There's probably something wrong with me to love fighting so much. But whatever is wrong with me, I don't want it fixed." So I'm thinking this is the stuff you are talking about checkerboy... a man can realize that there is zero value is something... but it doesn't matter. I think women can do that on a very limited basis. We are constantly weighing and measuring the return on something.

This is all very interesting. I'm on vacation for two weeks, my husband is not with me. So when I get home, I will have a new perspective on his behaviors. LOL. It's funny, because after 36 years of marriage, I almost always know WHAT he is going to do, I just never understood WHY. And I never never about the "nothing" box....

Sister of Jared

[Dolly-Mama]

My father recently told me of a story when he was in high school and getting together with his friends. He lived in Colorado and the big amphitheatre out there is called Red Rocks. It is an outdoor facility with a lot of stairs. There is no gate stopping anyone from going there so you can go there pretty much whenever you want. Anyway, he and his friends would take "Big Wheels" (where they aquired these, I have no idea) and ride them down the stairs to the bottom. Think... 5 eighteen year old guys riding big wheels down about 200 stairs.... Ah the mental image that comes with that. How they came up with this I will never know. Being female I don't have the ability.