Gender

I have had many experiences with how gender can play very different roles in understanding emotions.  If I had a bad day at work or am feeling upset I talk to my daughter, it's not that my husband doesn't understand, he just doesn't express his emotions the same way I do.  "Research on emotional expression suggests that there is at least some truth in the cultural stereotype of the unexpressive male and the expressive female."  I'm not sure if it's because men are taught from childhood to be tough and hide your emotions or if it goes much deeper than that including hormones and genetic make-up.  I think that it's more of a status to maintain than anything.  The saying goes "men are from mars and woman are from venus" even though we are the same species we can be completely different.  Overall woman think about emotions more than men do, so if a man forgets your birthday try to cut him a little slack, it's not that he is trying to make you upset, he just really did forget.  "A team of psychologists tested men and woman's recall of emotional images and found that females were 10 to 15 percent more accurate in remembering them."  I believe this is something that will never change just because of who we are, they say opposites attract and I think this is proof enough!