10 Things Men Can Learn from Women

The other day I was talking to my friend Alyssa, from Home.Sewn, about her blog posts regarding female empowerment and I mentioned that women who make an effort to improve themselves inspire me to also improve myself!  I wanted to dig deeper into this thing called “girl power” so I could see what things us men might benefit learning from the opposite sex, that’s you: ladies!  So after putting my ego aside and complaining about how hard this was to do, I’ve compiled a list of 10 things that I have personally learned from women and what I think other men could benefit learning from women as well.

[DISCLAIMER: I am in no way, shape, or form implying that men cannot learn these things from other men, that women cannot learn these things from other women or men, or even that these are the only things that men can learn from women. These are just ten things that I think men might just be better off learning from women for their own self-improvement journey. I believe that men and women are equal. If I didn’t, I probably wouldn’t have even considered assembling a co-ed soccer team in the first place. I’m just a man on a mission with a pen and an opinion.]

*Bites bullet*

Here we go:

• Organization – List making - just plain and simple.  I’ve heard some women claim to go through the “mental checklist” before they fall asleep in bed.  My head is a cluttered place… even the thought of a mental checklist seems like something that belongs in the next level.
• Taking Pride in Appearance – Men have been on the recent trend of taking pride of their appearance for approximately the past 10 years.  Women have been caring about their appearance since the beginning of time it appears.  If women take extra measures to look and smell good then so should we!
• Etiquette – Learning from my mother, who taught me that manners were carried forward to the dinner table.  I can still hear her voice in the back of my head…  “Wait for everyone to be seated before eating!  Don’t slurp!  Sit up straight!  Did you excuse yourself before leaving the table?”…  This taught me to be respectful to those who prepared the meal and also to not eat like a savage.  I wouldn’t say I follow those rules to the tee, but I do conduct my own healthy variation of dining in style!
• Discipline – Hair growth… that shit takes a while.  I’ve been growing out my hair for well over a year now and boy does it take some mad discipline.  I’ve been tempted to get a haircut almost every day whenever I look down at my shower drain.  But through discipline I can endure the lows to celebrate the highs and ultimately persevere – in this case it’s healthy longer hair! Unrelated but if you want to see how I style my hair, click here.
• Multitasking – Most women I know are crazy good at doing multiple things at the same time.  There’s no better embodiment of this than a single mom trying to balance her life as she juggles her kids.  When it comes to accomplishing small tasks, I struggle with switching and completing them.  I have to do one thing, then finish it, and afterwards move on to the next.
• Learning – Women are incredible learners.  I’ve always wondered why all the guys at school typically got lower grades than the girls – except for math class ;) jab, jab, right hook.  Whatever it is that women are doing to get better grades, sign me up because I want in. P.S. It always pays off to read the instructions first.
• Active Listening – I have a small tendency to space out during a conversation but at least I’ve been awake enough to notice how well women actually listen during one!  I’ve been making more of an effort lately to stay focused and absorb as much as I can like a sponge because I can actually contribute to what’s been said and make a better connection with the person whom I’m engaging.
• Intuition – I’ll never forget what my Grade 7 French teacher said to the class about indecision when it comes to test-taking: “Go with your gut feeling.”  It’s that simple.  Follow your moral compass and just do what feels right to you.
• Emotional Expression – Women are emotional beings who aren’t afraid to show how they’re feeling.  It bothers me when men are considered “weak” or are mocked for showing their emotions.  It’s okay to smile when you’re happy or cry when you’re sad.  Showing your emotions doesn’t make you less of a man – or woman for that matter.
• Meticulousness – Women’s attention to detail is impeccable – they can detect a hair out of place or a wrinkle that needs to be ironed out.  I feel like men are less likely to detect the micro-adjustments to turn good into great.  If you make every little inch perfect and then add them all up, then you might just get the difference between victory and defeat.

So yes, rather, quite #girlpower

Here is a link to the other part of our collaboration piece over on Alyssa’s blog about The Benefits of Being Around the Opposite Sex! Go check it out!  But for the sake of completion, I’ll give you a little preview as to what she has in store for you:

• Stress Management – “KEEPING YOUR FUCKING COOL WHEN THE WORLD IS ON FIRE AROUND YOU.”  Stressing about the past gets you nowhere – what’s done is done, now let’s start problem solving.
• Patience – “I have a hard time even waiting for my popcorn to cook.”  It’s important to understand some things just take time – Rome wasn’t built in a day after all (but if I’m perfectly honest – waiting for the next season of a show to come out is the absolute WORST).
• Elasticity – “Men can adapt to any environment.  It’s probably because they have less hair and do not have to worry about their mascara running, 99% of the time.”… HEY, I HAVE LONG HAIR TOO – but yeah it checks out…
• Judgement Control – “Girls can be really mean + judgemental.  Men know how to be decent humans towards each other, it’s admirable.”  ß THIS
• Time Management – “Personally, I’m always late.  Almost every woman that I know is.”
• Logical Reasoning – We’re BOTH going to just leave this one here…
• When to Relax – “Women can’t slow down.  It probably has something to do with that ‘mental checklist’…”
• Managing Emotions – “Women can definitely slip off of the deep end […] and most of the time there’s a dude friend somewhere keeping her in check.  It’s nice - probably saved a few lives + taken some.”

Well put Alyssa, that DEFINITELY wasn’t easy to write, so kudos!

I think that men and women can better coexist if we BOTH make an effort to understand each other.  What do you guys think?  Do you agree with our points? What would be on your list that we didn’t cover?  Comment below.

But as always guys – remember to stay casual!

- Casually Formal

P.S. Check out my new website staycasuallyformal.com for all my other content!

& in case you missed the link to Alyssa's sibling article at Home.Sewn, click here