Even though we’re constantly around people of another gender, they can feel like a total mystery. The differences between sexes are even a bit of an enigma to psychologists. Some experts believe that men are very similar psychologically, while others believe they are profoundly different.
To make things even more confusing, many barriers get in the way of understanding where everyone is coming from. We are raised with outdated stereotypes suggesting women are “like this,” and men are “like that,” or men are from Mars, and women are from Venus.
We also live in a time when we understand that simply understanding people as either men or women negates those who embrace the entirety of the gender spectrum. Further, fundamental physical differences between the genders can be confusing, too. Learning about our bodies is hard enough, let alone someone with different features.
All in all, this means that we constantly discover new things about other genders, even though many of the discoveries were staring us in the face the whole time. A Reddit user named zenithjonesxxx asked the forum, “What’s the most interesting revelation you’ve had about the opposite sex?” and the responses were pretty enlightening.
Some people shared the differences they’ve learned about our physical bodies, while others have picked up on communication strategies or learned about important differences in clothing.
Here are 17 of the best responses to the question: What’s the most interesting revelation you’ve had about the opposite sex?
1. No bras in the dryer
“It’s all fun and games until you put her favorite bra in the dryer, even accidentally.” — TheLonelyScientist
“When my Husband & I moved in together, I showed him how to wash bras and to hang them up. One day, he was in a rush and wasn’t paying attention and put 4 of my good bras in the dryer on high. He apologized profusely and promised to replace them. After he found out how much each one of them were he asked if he could buy me a new one each pay period. I said that’s fine and said he will probably never make this mistake again.” — _So_Anyways_
2. Period timing
“I was 16/17 when I found out periods happen over time, not an instant gush of blood that comes out at some random point over a one week time period. I blame adverts for panty liners where they poured all the blue liquid out at once.” — Samdd1990
“My husband thought all women had their periods in the beginning of each month.” — Annizka
3. No one is judging
“That they don’t care much about our flaws like we think.” — [Deleted]
“I’m way too busy thinking about what you think is wrong with me to think about what could be wrong with you.” — YourMom
4. The importance of kindness
“That nothing stands the test of time in a relationship more than kindness. It can’t be faked long-term. It’s literally the most important quality in a mate.” — TrulyFreely
“OMG up vote this. It’s the hardest thing to do – especially when you are 25 years in with 2 kids. But let the small sh*t go and just be kind. Find one selfless thing you can do/ say every day to make your partner feel special – no matter how shitty you feel yourself. It comes back at you in multiples.” — Cynik0
5. Pad logic
“I learned on Reddit that they don’t stick those pad things to themselves. They stick it to their underwear. I guess it’s obvious in hindsight.” — TokiStark
6. Woman’s pants
“Their pants don’t have a waist size and leg length. Just an arbitrary number. The f*** is a size 3?” — PewpyDewpyPants
“It’s actually awful. I hate shopping for pants.” — Rhandy_Mas
7. Men feel, too
“Men are incredibly emotional humans in a way that deserves so much showing up for and gentleness. I used to believe the stereotypes and didn’t always hold space for men to bring their emotions. But once I began clocking into how some men show up in their emotions, I was able to see how awesome they are in that space.” — Sahipps
“I think it’s just that we express our emotions differently. It’s not that we don’t have them, it’s that we don’t tend to wear them on our sleeves. However, get us in the right environment and the right frame of mind to express ourselves and you’ll find we are no less emotionally complex than women.” — Darkknight109
8. Understanding male silence
“Men really do sit there and think about the most random things. You think they’re mad at you, but they’re seriously just contemplating what would happen if oxygen just suddenly disappeared for a brief moment.” — Ill_Pumpkin8217
“Yeah sometimes when I say ‘nothing’ it’s because I don’t want to say ‘I’m imagining what would happen if ninjas were to suddenly attack.'” — CatsDogf
9. Women’s buttons
“Shirt buttons are on the other side? But, why?” — Fr8LIner
“The wealthy used to be dressed by servants.” — Scornflake
10. Boob size
“Men don’t care about the size of boobs half as much as I (F) thought they do.” — Manzare
“Yeah, even when being superficial the size isn’t really relevant. This myth probably started because men are more likely to involuntarily stare when someone has bigger breasts, simply because they are more immediately noticeable.” — Lawlcopt0r
11. Insecurities
“I think I was a teenager when I realized that my assumption – 95% percent of women think they’re beautiful – was actually the inverse of reality. I have no idea why I thought that was the case, but I did. When I started understanding people’s insecurities about their appearance, men included, it changed the way I interacted with them.” — Edgarpickle
“I love the thought that you were projecting how you thought 95% of women were beautiful and just assumed they thought the same.” — Xparapluiex
12. Interesting point
“Women really want to be found interesting, by someone who isn’t trying to sell them something or get them into bed in the next few hours.” — Dangerous_Grab_1809
“This may have been why many women I (37/M) encountered believed that I was romantically interested in them, simply because I wanted to know who they were as people. It struck me later in life that they deal with guys who only feign interest to get something from them. That must be exhausting.” — DDh5
13. Men in childcare
“The lack of guys in child-centered roles (especially roles involving young children) due to their fear of being accused of/perceived as a creep is a real shame and disservice to our youth. My first job was working as a daycare assistant in high school. My guy friend worked at the same place. He wasn’t allowed to change diapers/clothes or hug (and basically comfort) kids, though — only girls or women were allowed. We were both deeply offended by the implication that he couldn’t be trusted to perform the same job as me because he might do something sick. I felt valued as an employee, but he felt like he had a target on his back. Is this the message we want to send to boys? And why perpetuate the societal expectation that females should/need to handle more childcare tasks than males?
I’ve babysat for a ton of different families over the years. The blind trust some parents have in me just because I’m a woman is bewildering. Strangers have literally handed me their kid without batting an eye. Male babysitters are pretty much non-existent aside from the occasional family member or maybe a close family friend. And even if those boys or men are available and willing to babysit, there’s a very high chance that a female family member or close family friend will be chosen instead, if possible.” — PasstheTreesPlease
14. She’s not ‘out of your league’
“My contribution is that women “out of your league” may not be looking for some Andrew Tate Alpha Male who drinks Bull Piss™️ and gets into fights. She may actually have a crush on you and be just as shy to approach as you are.
Imagine my shock when I was on a manic high and spoke to a woman I knew would never associate with my ass and she was the exact type of person I was looking for and I happened to be the EXACT type she was looking for! Next month will be 12 years of marriage.” — StudMuffinNick
“So true. I’ve seen a lot of my girl friends feel attracted to a guy just simply because he asked them questions about themselves and seemed genuinely interested in what they were saying.” — Annagrams15
15. To-do lists
“Took me a couple years of marriage to realize, but for women crossing 2-3 things off their to-do list = foreplay.” — Counthermula
“I believe the term is ‘Choreplay.'” — ShaggyNinja
16. ‘I’m proud of you’
“Ladies, message him ‘I’m proud of you’ no clue why it does what it does to a guy, but they love that shit.” — Mousewaterdrinker
“Men can feel like trash, contemplating that they’re not good enough cause they don’t usually hear kind words like that really.” — RaichiSensei
17. They just want you to listen
“Women can talk about their problems for hours with no intention of looking for a solution. They just want you to listen, not fix it.” — Cocaine_N_Caviar
“Sometimes talking it out IS fixing it. The more you say it, the more you realize why you feel, the more you realize if there IS a solution, what it is.” — PickledQuestions