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Male Brains Aren't Designed To Listen to Female Voices
Stylecaster ^ | 06/07/11 | Andrea Uku

Posted on 07/13/2011 9:43:33 AM PDT by freespirited

If you've ever spent time telling a guy a story or asking him a question, only to get a blank stare in response, then you know that there's definitely truth to this claim that guys weren't designed to hear us speak. I had a similar experience at brunch this weekend when I was going on and on to a male friend about something I can't even remember anymore. When I got to the end of my rant and finally asked him if he agreed with me on the topic at hand, his answer was, "sorry, I really wasn't listening to a word you said."

Even though I was incredibly frustrated with him, he did bring up a good point, asking, "would you rather I lie and say I heard you?" This little exchange, as insignificant as it was, did make me wonder exactly what it is that makes it so easy for men to tune us out.

As it turns out, a study published in the journal NeuroImage sought to answer the very same question. Researchers found that there are major differences in the way male and female brains process voice sounds. Different brain regions are activated in men, depending on whether they're hearing a male or female voice.

Apparently, the vibration and number of sound waves in our voice makes it harder for men to decipher what we're saying. When it comes to processing a woman's voice, they use the more complex auditory part of the brain that processes music, not human voices. But the guys in the study could easily hear and understand other men’s voices as speech because that uses a simpler brain mechanism at the back of the brain.

So, next time you want to get angry and yell at a guy for "not listening," cut him a little slack – his brain just wasn't made to hear you. My suggestion would be to speak slowly and get to your point fast.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: femalevoice; malebrain; validationseeking; yappyappyapp
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To: hummingbird

lol.....This whole thread is cracking me up.


141 posted on 07/13/2011 10:55:02 AM PDT by Girlene (What did the fish say when he hit a concrete wall? Dam.)
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To: Mr. K

““There’s no horse?” says Fred.”

My frequent comment, with deep enunciation: “I don’t know what you are talking about.”


142 posted on 07/13/2011 10:57:04 AM PDT by ctdonath2 ($1 meals: http://abuckaplate.blogspot.com/)
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To: calex59

We like to hear those 3 litte words too, “you were right”.
LOL


143 posted on 07/13/2011 10:59:05 AM PDT by rhoda_penmark
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To: thefactor

Yeah...I had seen this earlier and mailed out the original to few people, including the wife who complains about me “not listening to her.” I look forward to hearing what she has to say about it (that is, if I can concentrate and there’s no ball game on).

But thanks for the ping...we men need to file this one away for easy access.


144 posted on 07/13/2011 10:59:26 AM PDT by Pharmboy (What always made the state a hell has been that man tried to make it heaven-Hoelderlin)
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To: freespirited

Funny, I’ve read that the recordings in aircraft cockpits are female because the female voice gets the [male] pilot’s attention. Both of these findings can’t be right.


145 posted on 07/13/2011 11:01:26 AM PDT by The Sons of Liberty (Psalm 109:8 Let his days be few and let another take his office. - Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin)
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To: freespirited

Funny. I recall a study that shows the exact opposite.

IIRC recall the military, esp. the Air Force when over to female voices for warnings, etc., because that was more likely to get the pilot’s attention than a male voice.

Anecdotally, I set my Kindle to read text to me in a female voice, and I prefer female vocalists.

I call BS on the study.


146 posted on 07/13/2011 11:01:30 AM PDT by Little Ray (Best Conservative in the Primary; AGAINST Obama in the General.)
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To: Yaelle

Ya know, sometimes there just isn’t time for “honest validation”. The validation should be obvious, and circumstantial urgency means we have to SOLVE the issue NOW, not sit around satiating a desire to be heard. Yes, I understand you knocked over the lit candle because you were trying to X Y Z and P D Q, no I’m not mad at you about it, WILL YOU PLEASE TELL ME WHERE THE CELL PHONE IS SO I CAN CALL THE FIRE DEPARTMENT?


147 posted on 07/13/2011 11:02:37 AM PDT by ctdonath2 ($1 meals: http://abuckaplate.blogspot.com/)
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To: Mr. K

Thinking it was longer than I wanted to read right now,I passed over your post twice.

THEN, I read it. OMG am I glad I read it. I laughed so hard that I have tears in my eyes.

I sent it to my wife at her office..... We have been together for nearly 40 years, so I don’t think she will come home to talk about a horse, more likely... an ass. LOL


148 posted on 07/13/2011 11:08:08 AM PDT by Gator113 (Palin 2012, period.....)
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To: Just mythoughts

lol


149 posted on 07/13/2011 11:10:40 AM PDT by Quix (Times are a changin' INSURE you have believed in your heart & confessed Jesus as Lord Come NtheFlesh)
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To: Wuli

imho

Women need attentive understanding and affectionate Love.

Men need respect to be a major component of the love they receive.


150 posted on 07/13/2011 11:12:28 AM PDT by Quix (Times are a changin' INSURE you have believed in your heart & confessed Jesus as Lord Come NtheFlesh)
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To: rhoda_penmark; calex59
We like to hear those 3 litte words too, “you were right”.

Well that's simple enough to fix. You just have to actually be right. When you start making it to that level, you'll hear those three magic words; "You finally understand!"


151 posted on 07/13/2011 11:13:23 AM PDT by paladin1_dcs (Voting for the lesser of two evils is still voting for evil.)
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To: freespirited

There are a lot of female voices that are difficult for me to listen to — and I am a woman.


152 posted on 07/13/2011 11:14:15 AM PDT by Bigg Red (Palin in 2012)
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To: Iron Munro

We used to joke about me being

“on automatic unhunh mode.”

Particularly when exhausted/sleepy.


153 posted on 07/13/2011 11:14:59 AM PDT by Quix (Times are a changin' INSURE you have believed in your heart & confessed Jesus as Lord Come NtheFlesh)
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To: Salamander

Yes, you nailed it! It is a Garmin. I switched it to German, female Steffi, once, just for laughs. Nothing like being yelled at in 40 other languages.

I don’t use many curse words but “she” can certainly raise my hackles. LOL


154 posted on 07/13/2011 11:17:47 AM PDT by miele man
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To: calex59

Actually males hear females quite well when they say the right words..

&&&
The husband misses some of what I say, but he always hears me when I say, “Your supper is ready.”


155 posted on 07/13/2011 11:18:14 AM PDT by Bigg Red (Palin in 2012)
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To: freespirited
My husband hears me. He doesn't LISTEN. Minutes after I've told him something, he's asking me the question I've already answered.

He also ignores answering a question. Drives him crazy when I return the favor.
156 posted on 07/13/2011 11:18:46 AM PDT by texas_mrs
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To: 5Madman2

Can’t explain the woman thing-other than they need to change their perspective as to how truly important they think every jewel is that rolls out of their mouth.


It’s a constant test.

Particularly for the ATTACHMENT DISORDERED woman . . . with great degrees of poor self-esteem; worthlessness, doubts etc.

It’s a constant test to see how much blather the man will endure as an affirming statement about her worth.


157 posted on 07/13/2011 11:19:56 AM PDT by Quix (Times are a changin' INSURE you have believed in your heart & confessed Jesus as Lord Come NtheFlesh)
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To: freespirited

Females have voices? Is that what that sound is?


158 posted on 07/13/2011 11:20:50 AM PDT by dagogo redux (A whiff of primitive spirits in the air, harbingers of an impending descent into the feral.)
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To: The Sons of Liberty; Little Ray

Maybe it’s different when a man is by himself or in male-only company and a female voice is heard vs when males are in the actual presence of a female.

Just a wild guess.


159 posted on 07/13/2011 11:20:59 AM PDT by freespirited (Stupid people are ruining America. --Herman Cain)
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To: rhombus

“Then why do they use simulated female voices in cockpit warnings?”

Probably because those voices sound like mommy, talk sufficiently like a man, or something.


160 posted on 07/13/2011 11:21:41 AM PDT by Tublecane
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