His design, her design
Introduction: How understanding simple sex differences can help you make peace with men
When God created mankind, He created us male and female.
We tend to take this for granted and don’t give it much thought. The human species, as well as many other species on earth, comes as either male or female.
Yet none of the other creatures were made male and female in His image.
In the natural world, as well as mankind, we accept a simple, fundamental truth: the male and female of the species interact and work together and procreate to produce young (i.e., “fruit”).
What this looks like varies widely depending on the species, but in the human family, we can be assured that the way we interact and relate is by God’s design.
It is certainly a result of the Fall that strife exists between men and women, but it is not a result of the Fall that men and women are different and serve different roles in human relationships, often (especially in our modern age) when we don’t even notice it.
The following series is based on what I’ve gleaned from my favorite books on relationships and male/female design, all of which are listed here if you’re interested in these titles.
But you can see much of what we’re about to discuss in regular, everyday life, in common tropes we all know to be true in the way male and female human beings relate to one another, in novels, movies, sitcoms, popular music, and in our most intimate relationships.
It is also based squarely on objective Christian truth that accepts that we were made male and female in the image of our Creator.
Also, much of what I’m about to say is a very broad generality about the differences between men and women: human beings are incredibly complex and have many different temperaments.
Relationships between men and women are not unlike pregnancy and childbirth; so many women have similar experiences that other women don’t have at all. While heartburn, swollen feet, bizarre cravings, vivid dreams, and heartburn are all very common, plenty of women never experience these things, but may struggle with plenty of other symptoms and experiences that still a great many women would relate to.
In the same way, many men have personalities and traits that are very similar to the husbands of many women, like leaving their socks on the floor and being obsessed with sports, while other men are clean, neat, and responsible, but may still be similar to the “Type B” group in many purely masculine traits, like processing emotional information in a very different way than women do.
This is a general guide to help you understand more about men and how they relate to us, as women, to demystify a lot of confusing habits men can have and encourage healthier communication and more stable relationships.
This is by no means a set of instructions for how to treat the men in your lives, how to fix them, or how to get your way.
It is an invitation to consider how men think and operate for the sake of being a kinder, more compassionate, and wiser woman.
Let’s dive in: