and now for a sad song

The wife and I were chilling last night after a go in the basement clearing out the detritus. While sitting on the back deck discussing strategies for the rest of the basement, she came out with a theory right out of the blue. It pertained to the core difference between women and men.

Basically, men are devoid of emotion, except for nurturing negative, dark ardour. While women pick up the slack with positive, upbeat, and nurturing spirit, energy, and empathy.

We bantered back forth for a while and I made her laugh with my counters to her theory. So, even though I am unable to be happy as a result of being a man, I am able to uplift the spirits of the better half.

As we carried on the debate, merit was shown to support the wife's theory. The wife used to cry at those commercials that showed a neglected clothing iron all sad and upset. Or the other one that started the water works: the potato all sad and forlorn because a noodle or rice quick sidedish was used for dinner instead; it was a Lipton's sidedish packet I believe. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find any clips on the interweb of these commercials. If anyone can point me in the right direction, I will update this post.

She still cries at silly sad commercials, when we are somewhere with cable. She also loses it often during movies and tv shows. Heartland? Forget it, she is like Niagara Falls most episodes. Hell, most scenes.

As to men, or more specifically, me, I watch Zombie genre film and television; out of curiosity. I actually despise the horror category. To me it falls more under the post-apocalyptic/survival shmere. the point is, it does not freak me out or scare me. Often it makes me laugh. I suppose that is morbid and would fall under the dark/negative category of emotion.

To wit, I also never cried at either of my parents' funerals. I thought I had to be strong. I was stoic and I was the last to leave the grave site. At the wakes, I would crack jokes and tell funny stories. Morbid? Maybe. Fort he record, I did cry eventually, years later. And as I mentioned in a previous post, I do think about my mum and dad. I would say even daily, but I cannot provide a ledger proving it.

I do believe that women are more in tune with themselves and their surroundings. Men tend to choose to not recognise crisis, loss, tragedy with the same earnestness as the the fairer sex.

I also think largely that men and women have been conditioned for centuries, millennia, differently. Women are supposed to be nurturing and sensitive and caring. While men are supposed to be tough, strong, clinical. However, explain Margaret Thatcher, just in general? What about George W. Bush? All but needing a hankie and a giant hug on 13 September 2001. Maybe those exceptions make the rule.

Maybe, this proves the wife's point. Dunno? 

Then again, I am at war with a bunch of squirrels and their Expanding Legion of Evil. What do I know?

If I were not a barren husk of a man lacking a soul and devoid of positive emotion, I might have been able to process all this in greater detail. blbbl