Battle of the Sexes

Whoever said Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus was a bit too optimistic when it comes to the distance dividing the two genders.  This comes to mind as I just had a brief exchange yesterday regarding a female friend who was recently in an "engagement" with another female involving their mutual male friend.  Said male friend summarily dismissed the argument as "you women are so competitive with each other".   In this case, the man in question held his ground on that point and continued to wash his hands of the matter, even after the other party tried to pull him into the tussle.   Eventually the matter resolved itself and neither women talk to each other anymore.  But the guy...well, maybe he would have been better served to mediate the situation rather than stick his head in the sand as he is ultimately the one who now has to dance back and forth between his two friends. 

I think this scenario just serves to further demonstrate how most women will approach these tete-a-tete interactions on an immediate emotional level, always reacting based on how the other party is making them feel.  Likewise, when women see their friends being "attacked" by a third party, they will always react from an emotional angle and immediately come to the defense of their friend.   In reverse, most men tend to evaluate a situation and wait it out, rather than reacting from an emotional place.   Which is the better way?  I really don't know.  There is a saying that "Cooler Heads Always Prevail", but is that truly the case?  I think there is something to be said for instinct and intuition; your initial reaction will almost always be correct.  In my experience, if something (or someone) doesn't pass the sniff test, it's likely there is something rotten at the core.   

Maybe neither side is right.  Chinese philosophy touts the existence of ying/yang: the two fundamental principles definining the balance and behavior of the feminine (yin) and masculine (yang) in people and in nature.  These differences keep life interesting and unpredictable.    It could very well be this is the driving force behind the continuing survival of the human race... this constant "battle" fuels the fire within us and compels us towards each other.  We get off on the challenge of overcoming obstacles and striving towards successful relationships - not just intimate relationships as not all couples are male/female, but how we relate to everyone in every  type of situation we encounter in our day-to-day lives. 

At the end of the day, maybe we just weren't meant to understand each other, but rather to just accept our differences and learn to coexist with each other.