I’m going to play devil’s advocate this week. Against what, you ask? Pretty much against every male stereotype that we, women, were introduced to, from the moment we believed that boys had cooties.

I don’t mean to add fuel to the fire, but men, you really do have it hard. Honestly, I didn’t even notice it until I actually listened to the lyrics of my favorite songs, actually paid attention to the underlying plots of my favorite movies, actually focused on the messages of advertisements geared toward women. The signs are everywhere: From birth, women are taught to believe that men are scum and that we must shield ourselves from their evil, inherently woman-hating actions.

Frankly, that’s just silly. Being a woman myself, I know of the struggles we had to deal with while growing up, but until now, I never realized how difficult it must have been for our male companions to grow up, too.

We worried about trying to get skinny, but guys couldn’t just be skinny, they had to be buff, too. We worried about our dreaded monthly burden, but guys had to deal with awkward squeaking noises every time they tried to speak, not to mention unexpected and uninvited bodily functions. We worried about boys and our first kisses, but guys were expected to be the ones initiating all of the relationship milestones we were so eager to concur.

Puberty aside, women are also brainwashed from the moment they start singing along to the pop songs of their time to not only fear cheating mean, but to also expect the worst from men as a whole. Breakup songs seem to almost outweigh love songs these days, and I can’t deny that Beyonce’s empowering songs get me more excited than any sappy Colbie Caillat song.

There’s also unneeded tension in relationships between men and women because many people don’t understand the natural differences each gender has in its communication strategies. For instance, women are known to give acknowledging signs — like a head nod or an “umhmm” — to show that they are listening; men, on the other hand, generally remain silent as a sign of respectful listening. What does this lead to? A frustrated woman thinking she is talking to a brick wall and a confused man unsure of what he did wrong.

Women and men process information and plan things differently, and even the way each gender speaks has been shown to differ. These are merely generalizations displayed through gender communication studies, but these bits of information can help spark some new understandings from each side and hopefully act as stepping stones toward bridging this gap we have unknowingly created and maintained.

Don’t get me wrong: I don’t believe that all men are perfect, and I definitely don’t believe that every woman holds these stereotypes as true. The empowerment of women is and will always be important, and complications in relationships branch from tons of various issues. But, in a world of differences and miscommunication, it might help to take some time to focus on our shared struggles and deal with the innate variations that make us separate genders in the first place.

Reach Copy Chief Parisa Sadrzadeh at lifestyles@dailyuw.com.