I gave a book on men and how men experience the world to my girlfriend at the time, maybe five or ten years ago. After reading it, she asked me, “Do men have emotions?”

Apparently she thought men didn’t have emotions. In fact, she clarified, “I thought men just did things.”

I’m glad she asked if she didn’t know. I was surprised she didn’t.

For context, she had graduated a top university and was preparing for graduate school, which she has since graduated from. She wasn’t holed away in a monastery. You would have seen her as a regular person. The mind reels at what could have created this situation and its ramifications.

For what created this situation, what about our educational system and culture led a mainstream woman to misunderstand men so much? How much and in what ways does society promote believing men feel no emotions? Was she an isolated case? How many other women think men don’t have emotions?

For its ramifications, how does thinking men lack emotions lead a woman to treat men? Why hold back from causing a man or men in general pain if he doesn’t feel pain?

How can we learn how prevalent her view is? If widely prevalent, what can we do about it, assuming others want to?

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For the record, for those who may not know, men have emotions. We feel pain, joy, suffering, elation, and the full gamut.

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