One of the major bits of logic behind moving away from teaching archaic gender roles is the fact that it's limiting.
Being creative is wonderful, why should that be a feminine thing? Being assertive is wonderful, why should that be a masculine thing? We could go on for days.
In a way, Reddit did when one user asked:
What is one thing you appreciate about the opposite gender?
So let's get to it.
Ignorance Is Bliss
Dave Chapelle GIF by MOODMANGiphyI appreciate how oblivious men can be. I feel like ladies, myself included, tend to read too far in between the lines and guys just seem to go with the flow.
Not gonna lie, I enjoy people thinking I'm oblivious in some situations. If they don't want to talk about something enough to the point of directly saying it, why would I? All I have to do is say or do what ever I would have done; had I not noticed. Life can be easy if you let it.
- Marktot
Interests Only
I appreciate that men can have friendships around mutual interests without demanding full emotional disclosure or constant small talk from their friends.
- moinatx
I was one of three random guys that ended up hanging out together at a bar once. We left when it closed and went over one guys apartment. At one point one guy said this night was fun because it's so hard making friends as guys.
At that point I realized none of us had even exchanged names.
On the flipside though, I think it's awesome that girls can actually open up to each other about emotional stuff. Having so many friendships centered around interests can make them feel pretty hollow sometimes.
Unfortunately this is how all my friendships are. The only people I can talk to anything emotional are women.
Resilience Is Real
I appreciate the resilience of men. There's a lot of pressure on men to "provide" and they make so many sacrifices to meet that expectation.
I appreciate the resilience of women.
You go through periods, pregnancy, and childbirth. You deal with sexual harassment and discrimination and the condescension of men who think they know more than you because you're women. And let's not forget the beauty standards for women in this society that are so impossibly high that even the most beautiful women seem to think there's something wrong with at least one aspect of their bodies.
I don't know how you manage to put up with us.
You Deserve More
I watched my wife give birth to both our kids one vaginal the other cesarean. You ladies do not get enough credit for dealing with childbirth, in my opinion.
My wife had our first daughter's name picked out from when she was a little girl.
I wasn't thrilled about it but after witnessing childbirth live, in-person, she coulda named the kid "Fuzzy Bunny Slippers" and I'd have gone with it. Damn, woman, you earned naming rights after that freaking ordeal, let alone, the pregnancy itself.
The Science Of Soft
couple love GIFGiphyTheir skin is so soft and they smell nice.
I really don't get why females usually have softer skin than males.
Hormones play a part in it. When transgender women start hormone therapy, their skin gets softer even if they haven't gained any weight.
And the fibrous connective tissue between skin and fat is also in a straight up and down pattern. In men, it's woven in a crisscross pattern. This is also why cellulite is much more common in women compared to men.
My wife is a licensed massage therapist, and she's done studies on cadavers. I remember her talking about a theory on this that's always made sense to me.
Women have a higher amount of subcutaneous fatty tissue, as others have pointed out, but there are other differences too. Biological males have denser muscles, thicker epidermis, and harder subcutaneous fat, but the biggest difference is actually the structure of the fascia both surrounding the muscles and between muscle fibers.
What she said was that male fascia is like a thick layer of shrink wrap around muscles - muscle density aside, that external support makes their muscles more efficient. Biological female fascia tends to be far more flexible, like female muscles, where the strength is in range of flexibility and ability to expand considerably further without snapping like a rubber band under too much tension.
As she said, its anecdotal, but biologically it makes sense.
Depression And Understanding
The fact that they're generally more supportive whenever my depression gets especially bad. Most of my male friends are either ignorant about mental health, or they fail to understand that it's not as simple as "just don't be sad".
Most of my boys aren't that understanding about it because they haven't gone through depression themselves. That, combined with them being stereotypically masculine when it comes to hiding their emotions, doesn't make it a very safe and productive environment to discuss mental health with them unfortunately
Relatively Few Atrocities
I appreciate that the overwhelming majority of history's atrocities were not committed by women.
When we have the power to commit those atrocities, we will finally have gender equality. We will just have to wait for our day in the sun when we can start a world war and cause millions to die or the earth to burn. It's a distant dream still.
Don't Panic
I'm horrible at expressing myself, so hopefully this makes sense. I appreciate how calm men can be lol. When I'm scared, nervous or I need to deal with a big change happening in my life I automatically go on panic mode.
If I talk to my brother, cousin or coworker about the situation they are soooo chill. I'm like OMG!!! but what if this or that happens and their like ... you can handle anything...so if that happens you'll do this or you'll do that lol like so matter a fact about it and I'm like oh yeah... then I feel silly for panicking.
Friends Seem Fun
I love how the friendships work.
I didn't intend on it, but I have only really had guy friends. People always act like I'm boasting or something when I say that but I always wanted a chick friend.
The way they talk and sh*t is so cool. Like they can be so supportive. And the fun birthday sh*t they do!
But girls are very strange when it comes to trust.
Like they will compliment someone and then so openly talk about/ridicule them behind their back.My friends will openly ridicule me and then be so nice behind my back. And they really protect the other. The bromances is also cute.
This isn't the same for everyone like I know that.
- weed_hoe
F It
My boyfriend will just say "F*ck em'" and it...works?
Ranting for 20 minutes about the issue gives me less pleasure than my boyfriend forcing me to say "f*ck it" to my stress.
I do enjoy milking out a problem with my mom and sister, but sometimes it just prolongs the stress when it's on your mind constantly.
I remember I had a stressful day, and I had "The Itch" to start ranting about it to him when all of a sudden, upon seeing him so comfortably lazy and uncaring of anyone and everything, my mentality switched into Guy Mode.
He asked, "How was work?" I said, "Eh, fine. F*ck em'" He nodded his head and we happily watched tv for the rest of the night.
I have mad respect for you guys who just simply not give a single f*ck. Even when you do, you still don't.
A Freaky Looking Cricket
Honestly? For me it's how they can go from being in war/defend the house against invaders mode to screaming like a 4 year old girl at the sight of a freaky looking cricket.
Son? You were just about to fight the human version of an actual ogre who is twice your size and you can't handle an insect?!
It's my favorite thing. I find it endearing.
Bruh insects are terrifying. Mosquito are my worst enemy. I'll do whatever I can to take them out and not get bit lmao.
- freedubs
Hey crickets are scary! I've woken up to them crawling on my face about 8 to many times, i just cant anymore!
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