Men are From Mars

I recently started reading the book Sacred Influence by Gary Thomas. It was given to me Sunday to take to a friend. I, of course, am frantically trying to read it before passing it on. Yes, it’s a marriage book and no, I’m not married. That doesn’t mean I can’t read about marriage, right? If anything, it’s scaring me into singleness. Being a wife is a BIG responsibility. Who woulda thought?? I’m being sarcastic, in case you couldn’t tell. Anyway…the book is very funny, enlightening and challenging. I thought I would include a few of the statistics I find interesting:

o Fetuses begin to produce hormones at three months, influencing how the baby will react to the world. Males have up to twenty times more testosterone than females. I love how this disproves the theory of “nature versus nurture” and reveals God’s creativity and design.

o Male brains have less serotonin than females (serotonin calms people down). The author (not myself) mentions this could cause men to act "explosively and compulsively."

o Men have less oxytocin in their brains. The higher the oxytocin levels, the less aggressive the person is likely to be. Just sayin’.

o Women’s brains have 15% more blood flow, which is why we are able to stay on task until later hours and “process complex entertainment.” Thomas was referring to the way men like to watch simple movies at night…like buildings blowing up and cars crashing. Women, on the other hand, have the ability to watch more thought provoking shows...like The Bachelor. :)

And last, but certainly not least…

o It takes men up to seven…SEVEN hours longer than women to process complex emotional data.

This was all taken from the chapter entitled “Understanding the Male Mind.” Umm…I think it’s going to take a lot more than that to help me understand the male mind, but I think it does give us women a tiny idea. Let me just say, too, that my comments are not meant to be offensive. I’m not a man hater! I love men! You fascinate me. I think the way God created men and women to be so different is intentional and purposeful. As the tagline from another awesome book by Gary Thomas, Sacred Marriage, reads, “What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy.”