Back to Apache home page

By Jeremy Taylor

It’s no revelation that men don't understand women. It's the subject of many arguments in every relationship. As a member of the brute side of society, I feel that the majority of these misunderstandings are due to pure ignorance. We want to understand women; we just don't know what they want.

The movie "What Women Want" displayed the innermost thoughts of women, and although the film was co-written by a man – more than likely as clueless as the rest of us – the film raised some interesting, possibly valid points. One is that different women have different wants and needs.

I recently interviewed a number of women on campus, asking them questions about their interests, what they wanted out of life and out of their men. Coming into this project, I hoped to be able to categorize women.

I was quickly stripped of that ridiculous notion. You can't categorize women. The number of types of women grows as quickly as the female population.

Having concluded that women don't come in convenient categories, I searched for some thing that all women want. This search is one of epic proportions. I will not pretend to have found THE answer, but I hope to provide a starting point for all of the confused men out there.

First of all, be honest. The idea sounds simplistic and cliché, but it is more important than I had ever imagined. Whether you are in search or a romantic relationship or a friendship, all women want honesty from men.

I was amazed at the number of women who don't trust men. I could see it in their faces when I approached them for an interview. Nearly every one had a look of suspicion on her face. Their first thought was probably: "Is this guy going to give me some lame pick-up line?" Even after I began to interview them, it seemed as if many of them were waiting for me to act like an ass.

Guys, let's be honest. Can we blame women for not trusting us? Throughout history, men have proven their dishonesty. President Kennedy cheated on Jackie, Prince Charles cheated on Princess Di, Sonny cheated on Cher, and to come full circle, even President Clinton has "relations" with Monica.

To be fair, not all men are of this low ethical and moral standard, not all men are dishonest. But all men stuck with this stigma, and, it is our job to try and work out of this problem. It isn't a fun job, but if you want women to be happy, it's got to be done.

After honesty, what women seem to want is for us to loosen up.

Cut the macho "I can kick his butt if you want me to" act and just relax. Try to have some fun, not because it is the cool thing to do, but because it is enjoyable and it makes you someone she wants to be around. Not that there isn't a time for grunting, spitting and scratching yourself, but that time isn't when you're with your woman. Hold a door, buy a rose, lend an ear. She would rather have you listening to her than yelling at someone who looked at her the wrong way.

Not one of the women’s answers in my interviews suggested that physical attributes or sexual attractiveness was of the utmost importance. Don’t get me wrong; I know women are human, just like us, so that have the same drives and urges. But it is important for us to realize that sex isn't something they focus on as much as most men do. Priority is one of the biggest differences between men and women, and sex is one of the biggest factors.