Quote:
Originally posted by Lady Sedai:
I will agree with you on many of your points re: boys shouldn't be made to act "more like women" but to control their emotions, etc.
On the other hand, they should *also* be taught not to internalize so much. My husband has high blood pressure and there is great evidence his is strictly stress related. He holds things in because "he's a man and shouldn't worry me with his problems", but it eats him up. Young men should be taught to talk to their partners instead of holding it inside. It can either cause health problems (as in my husband's case) or even be some of the cause of men "blowing up" at women and turning to violence.
I'll post up my views on what girls go through in a bit. Gotta go take of some things around the house first. 
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Well talking about it is one way to solve the problem, and as a man I try to communicate with my wife more than I would given my own choice, it's just a part of getting along with someone. The problem is that I think for some men (me [img]smile.gif[/img] ), "talking about it" can be more stressful than just sucking it up... it seems to me that men and women look at communication differently. My wife will look at me after a "discussion" and say "there, don't you feel better?"... and most of the time I say "NO, I'd have felt better by now if we hadn't had to talk about it though!" (I love my wife dearly... she puts up with a LOT. Of course so do I, one of those things about Marriage. [img]smile.gif[/img] )
Personally, the way I would normally choose to blow off stress is to go out and work it off, take a 2 mile swim or a 30 mile bike ride... by the time I'm done I'm exhausted and the stress is gone. For men phyical exercise is for more than just getting in shape (not sure if the same is true for women). I think the high blood pressure problem men have today is caused by the fact that we're not active enough, we have no traditional outlets for stress.
My dad is a good example... that guy had 7 kids, a very difficult wife, a not so great paying job, and he's the kind of person that dwells on EVERYTHING (he liked to yell a lot too [img]smile.gif[/img] ). Adds up to LOTS of stress. Plus there's the fact that he has always been significantly overweight (250-350lbs) and you'd think you'd have a recipe for disaster. The reality is that he's never had high blood pressure or heart problems... healhy as an OX (and somewhat resembling one). The only explanation is the level of exercise he's gotten. His job (timber buyer) required him to walk long distances daily, he got HOURS of exercise each day.
Exercise can help make up for a whole lot of bad habits.
[ 12-13-2004, 03:18 PM: Message edited by: Thoran ]