Stupid Thing #5: You Believe The Opposite Sex Should Always Understand What You're Saying
For both men and women, we assume the other sex understands what's being said. In reality, male and female brains operate a little differently and women are generally far more capable when it comes to verbal communication. This advantage allows women to track multiple conversations and pick up on intricacies of speech that men can't. In essence, women are better listeners than men by default, even if it's a somewhat minor distinction. The Norwich Bulletin points to a study from the University of Sheffield that discovered the male brain has trouble tracking a woman's speech because of how it processes the sound of the female voice:
These researchers found differences in the way male and female brains process voice sounds. The results of this study demonstrate that, in the male brain, the perception of male and female voices activates different brain regions. The guys could easily hear and understand other men's voices. However, women have a greater natural melody in their voices and possess a more complex range of sound frequencies than a male voice. The men in the study had a harder time deciphering them and really hearing what a woman was saying. When they heard the female voices, they had to decipher them using the part of the brain that processes music - a more complex process than is used in the part of the brain that analyzes a male voice.
The only real solution to the problem is for both men and women to be aware and understanding of this inherent communication issue. Communication is difficult even without the gender differences, so it can help for men to make the extra effort and for women to understand that what they say may not always come across in exactly the way they think.
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