The Difference Between Male and Female Body Language

 

Men don’t understand women. Women don’t understand men. To many, it is a fact that we need to accept. However, we can do so much more than just face and take this situation. We can try to understand one another. To do so, we should know what is behind the behaviour of the opposite gender. We can find out what are the causes of how or why women and men act the way they do. Why do men and women differ in how they behave? In other words, in their body language.

The Actions

Women are more sensitive than men. They are, in fact, very sensitive. They are “drama queens.” Men want to be in control always. They want to have their way and do not care about others. These are what we observe. These are the things that most women observe in men and most men observe in women. But, as mentioned, let us go deeper into these.

Behaviour and Its Purpose

The two genders differ in behaviour. But, this is not only it. They also differ in why they behave the way they do. It is not only the behaviour that is different. Their purpose in acting that way also differs. Most of the time, their behaviour is dictated by their purpose. One important factor in the difference in purpose is the genetic composition of women. In other words, their nature. By nature, they are different from men. Other important factors, next to nature, are learnings, experiences and culture. Further, the differences in the behaviour of the two genders have been affected by changes in the modern times. This is especially so for women. Their gender, as a group, has started to develop the tendency to be assertive and to dominate, in general.

Physical Communication

Men and women have different ways of communicating physically. They differ on how they send and receive communication using body language. Because they are more sensitive, women are generally better in sensing what the actions of men, and even women, say. All the more they can detect whether there is something wrong or there is something up by comparing what the person says and what are the actions of the person. On the other hand, men are generally less skilful than women in using body movements to help in the way he communicates.

Cause

The difference between the way men and women behave and communicate through body gestures can be attributed to how they think, literally. One specific instance is that women use up to 16 different parts of the brain at the same time when they receive or accept messages, vocal or physical. On the other hand, men use only about 6 to 7 at a time when doing the same activity. But this does not mean that the more parts you use, the better. Neither does it mean the opposite. Not one is better than the other. Nevertheless, it means that there is really a difference right from the start.

Communication = Understanding

Even before learning that men and women really think in different ways including how we use our mind in receiving and sending body language and processing them, we have already known that the two different genders really act and think differently. And we have already accepted this fact. And now, we know that there is really a difference in how the mind of men and women work, literally, differently. Now we already have two foundations on which to build the understanding between women and man. Let us use these two: the acceptance of the difference and the knowledge of the possible causes of the difference, to enable us to understand each other more.

 

Be Tactful: Think Before You Talk

 

Many problems are caused by misunderstandings. Misunderstandings are caused by miscommunication. To communicate better and prevent problems caused by miscommunication, you need to start with being tactful. It is saying the right words in the right manner. To do this, you must think carefully before you talk.

Communication is very important in life. Telling other people what you need or want solves or prevents problems. Interacting with others in conversations or discussions is necessary. However, you should be careful what you say. The goal of talking is to solve problems. It is not to add to them. When you do not carefully think and talk, you can add to the mess. Further, do not want to say anything that you may regret in afterwards.

Think First

Before you say anything, give it a thought first. As second thought, even. Think about will it contribute to solve the problem, or not, or even add to it. To do this, think about what others will feel about what you will say. If you need to say it, think of how you can say it in a nice way or, maybe, at least the nicest way possible. Think of how the persons involved will feel. It will really add up to the problem if what you will say will hurt them especially if you say it in a careless way.

There are times when you need to say things which can hurt other people. You might even need to do so in a somewhat hurting way. For example, you have this younger co-worker who has shown recklessness. Then one time some minutes before working time, he leaves the loudspeakers of his computer playing disco music and goes to the recreation area to play Xbox video games. You will need to tell this person in an emphatic way.

You believe or even just feel that you need to tell people like this to watch their behaviour. If so, you should weigh between the need to say it and its effect on the person. If it will really not help the person because he is already hardened and it will only worsen him as he will retaliate, you will need to just let it pass and just report the incident to the higher level. But if you still believe that it will help the person realise his mistake, then you can greatly consider telling him.

Focus on the Positive

One best way of thinking of what to say is to look at the brighter side of things. Yes, you can start by thinking of the bad things that a person does. However, you there should be good things that they have done or good traits that they have. Think of these things and talk about them. Then, maybe you can even insert some of the bad. This is effective communication because you are not only able to give credit that is due to the person but you are also able to bring up the things which are not so good and they will listen. This is called “positive-negative-positive” commenting in human resource psychology.

 

Another important aspect of being tactful is to not say anything at all, at least about the topic or person in question. If you are asked to say something, you may decline. You can say what you think about the topic but not about the person. Again, you have to think first. You have time to do so. While others are asked about the topic and the individual involved and taking turns in saying what they have in mind, you can prepare and think. Decide what you will say and how you will say it. You may even need to make a decision to not say anything at all. Prepare your reason for doing so. Then, when your turn to say something comes, you can decline and give the reasons why.