5 things all grown men should know about women

YOU’D think that with all the advances in the women’s movement over the decades that certain pieces of knowledge were standard — like women are not property, women deserve an equal say at the bargaining table, and women can be both mothers and career professionals. But the behaviour of other people — the male gender in particular — has us wondering sometimes if the messages were lost in translation, as they just don’t seem to get it.

We can forgive the actions of teenage boys who haven’t yet been schooled, but a grown man, one who has been in relationships with women, one who has a mother and sisters, and one who is learned, should know certain things about a woman, no apologies. These include:

Calling a woman ‘female’ is derogatory

The words ‘female’ and ‘woman’ mean different things — in essence, calling a woman female means that you are reducing her to her reproductive abilities. The word ‘female’ refers to the sex of any species that is capable of reproducing, while ‘woman’ refers specifically to a human being. Worse, the word seems almost always being used in a contemptuous manner! A reminder for the next time you contemplate using the label and think it’s no big deal — nobody casually refers to men as ‘males’!

Every woman is different

You can’t dump every woman into a single category, or condemn us all because one, or a few women, may have done you wrong. Every woman is different from the other — differences in socialisation, beliefs, ways of thinking, reaction to situations —will determine the kind of woman she is.

Women have moods and feelings — and they’re not linked to periods

The worst thing you can say to a woman when she reacts to a situation is that she’s being emotional, or that her behaviour is tied to what time of the month it is, and where she is in her cycle. It’s not only insulting, it’s scientifically incorrect to make such a link between the uterus literally shedding its lining and what’s happening in a woman’s brain.

You’re not entitled to her attention, even if she’s single

When a woman says no, some men take it as a challenge to persist, especially if the woman is single and they believe that persistence will get them somewhere. Some men will even ignore the fact that a woman is taken, and won’t back off. While we all know the phrase, ‘If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again,’ this should only be applied to things like excelling at a sport, and not to pestering women. Continuing to try to attract a woman’s attention after she’s indicated that she’s not interested is uncomfortable for her, and something men should know is just not OK.

‘Mansplaining’ should have died in 1971

“Mansplaining”, according to Merriam-Webster, is what occurs when a man talks condescendingly to someone (especially a woman) about something he has incomplete knowledge of, with the mistaken assumption that he knows more about it than the person to whom he’s speaking.

This is patronising behaviour, and today’s man should know that there are many women who know more about cars, construction, architecture, plumbing and electrical work than many men, and it’s full time the practice of believing women to be ignorant of certain subjects ceases.