Tag: women

You want to join the women-helping-women movement and you’re looking for opportunities to make deeper, more meaningful connections; opportunities to support each other, and to make the world a better place. However, just going to a conference, fundraiser or team meeting isn’t enough. You have to know what comes next—what to say or do to connect with other women in ways that yield real relationships and change lives (including yours) for the better.

If you are like many women, the act of venting your frustrations can be healing—you get out all the bad feelings, work through them a bit, and start to move on. Just talking about it makes you feel better.

Except that often it is not better for your relationship. Your partner—on the receiving end of this venting—can end up feeling bruised and resentful, particularly if the venting was about him personally, or about his behaviors.

I have noticed that more and more businesses keep a small bowl of candy in reception areas and on countertops. They are practically becoming part of the décor. The other day, while waiting for my hairstylist, a woman marched over to the obligatory bowl of candy, snatched up a fistful of candy and announced, "I need some sugar!" She was not a diabetic in distress; she was not faint from not eating. She had an emotional need for not just one piece of candy—but a fistful.

"So…how’s your relationship?" If someone asks you this question at the right time (after a big fight, for instance), it will unleash a flood of frustration: She’s too sensitive. The other day I suggested she forgo a second piece of cake—just because I care about her health, mind you—and she fell apart like a $2 watch!

Or, he’s like a robot. He doesn’t care about how I feel at all! Every time I try to talk about our marriage, he just shuts down. That makes me mad, so I keep pushing and pushing until we’re screaming at each other.

While the workplace can be a seething cauldron of stress for both genders, women tend to experience the following work-related stress symptoms like, short-term memory loss, lack of clarity, suppressed anger, fatigue and weight gain. A Wall Street Journal article, "Office Stress: His Versus Hers" by Lauren Weber and Sue Shellenbarger asserts that women suffer more stress than their male counterparts at work. Keep in mind that women don’t compartmentalize the way men do. They bring their stress home with them and this stress inevitably seeps into their marriage.

Today, more than ever before, there is an unmistakable drive towards educating us in the fine art and science of lovemaking. After decades of underestimating the power of female sexuality, the "I Am Woman Hear Me Roar" anthem of the '60s and '70s has unleashed, for the most part, a brand of woman confident in her sexuality and far more knowledgeable about what she wants. This has not come without some effort, as we have all been exposed to the countless seminars, books and articles (present company included), which are designed to help us rev up our sex lives.

Both men and women are stressed environmentally, physically and emotionally. However, researchers in social psychiatry point out that women are twice as likely as men to develop depression. Why?

* Hormonal changes: Monthly, during pregnancy and at menopause.

* Women get caught in a negative worry loop.

* Many women are overwhelmed with caregiving responsibilities.