MEN IN RELATIONSHIPS: BUSTING THE MYTHS
22 June 2011
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You've all heard the 'truth'. Men find it hard to commit. Men cheat and women stay faithful. Men find breaking up easy while women endure months of unbearable heartache. Men are cads and women are angels.
These are all common clichés about men in relationships, regularly reinforced by sitcoms and newspaper columns. And quite simply, they're not true. When scientists and psychologists have analysed the behaviour of girlfriends and boyfriends, or husbands and wives, a more subtle and nuanced truth has emerged.
Read on and we'll bust the myths about men in relationships, and give you plenty of ammunition the next time you're accused of being "a typical bloke". Here's how to defend yourself against a sea of misinformation:
Romance
The sitcom staple has it that women could wait for hell to freeze over before most men would remember anniversaries and other romantic dates. And even when we do remember, our efforts at romance will amount to flowers from the 24-hour garage and a meal from the local Indian takeaway. Any truth in it? Not according to relationship therapist Dr Terri Orbuch. "In my own long-term study of married couples, and from the many studies I've read on romanticism among the genders, it appears that yet another gender myth can be dismantled: men, typically, are more romantic than women." According to Orbuch, women are better at "compartmentalising" romantic feelings, which pretty much means that they can keep them in a box and bring them out when the need arises. Men, on the other hand, are more consistently passionate. Which is - let's face it - pretty much the opposite of what everybody thinks.
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