Why did Moses wander in the desert for 40 years?
Answer: Because men don’t ever stop to ask for directions. Funny? Is there an element of truth? It does seem that men are more hesitant to ask for help. But why? Is it stubbornness or pride?
Thirty years ago, at the height of the woman’s liberation movement, I was probably the only man in America brave or stupid enough to be a co-therapist in a women’s consciousness raising group. It was my female co-therapist and me with a dozen co-eds looking to throw off yoke of gender discrimination.
It was a trying experience for me. Obviously a couple of the common feelings these women had were frustration and anger. Being the only man in the room I often experienced their displaced wrath.
During one evening’s group I made the mistake of suggesting that just as men and women have many physical and biological differences perhaps we also have neurological dissimilarities. Wow, did I get toasted!
In retrospect I understand that in the context of that group, at that time in our culture, to suggest inherent, hard-wired differences was suspected to be an excuse to perpetuate stereotypes and continue discriminating against women. My timing was horrible. But the message was valid.
Research has confirmed that neurologically determined communication patterns between men and women are distinct. Simply stated, men are more competitive in their communication while women are more relational. Men aren’t inclined to make themselves vulnerable and, in fact, try to communicate superiority. They will try to “one up” each other. Women look for ways to connect through their communication.
The Right Brain Revolution tells us that competitiveness is a function of the left-brain while empathy and relationships are right brain functions. Does this mean that men are more inclined to be left-brain oriented while women are predisposed to the right brain? Before you rage against such a suggestion stop and consider that one is not better than the other. Differences are a source of strength.
So if Moses wandered in the desert for thirty years because he wouldn’t stop and ask for directions it was because he was neurological wired to react that way. The untold story may be that it was the women who, through their neurological propensity for connection and relationships, brought and kept the Israelites together until they finally arrived at the promised land.