Letters to the Editor
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Misery Breeds Company
I have noticed that bonding for women means sharing your troubles. Thus creating the opportunity for being supportive. When I am chatting with women I tend to ignore the little baited hooks they put out. They are just little invitations to expose your minor anxieties to the world and prove yourself human--vulnerable.
Obviously this feminine approach to bonding does have the big advantage of building a supportive network of friends for times of real crisis. On the other hand it's nice to see someone note the rather glaring downside.
For men who see no point in churning over minor problems they can't fix it can be quite vexing. There are some other rules of female style conversation that deserve to be questioned. Like a tendency for constant non-confrontational niceness, which often makes for anti-intellectual and boring conversations.