I normally don’t follow something as biased and heavily opinionated as Upworthy, but there was an article that caught my eye. Reading through, there was something incredibly relevant to which I hadn't the words to say before when having frustrating conversations I never wanted to have in the first place and then having my voice, experiences, research, etc be invalidated because the art of listening disintegrated and digressed to name-calling. In a nut shell:
I need you to listen to me.
“Resist your impulse to “not-all-men” your way out of the conversation. If I’m talking to you about this issue, it’s because I trust you and I think it’s an important discussion to have.
Please understand that my experiences may change your worldview a little bit — and that yours might change mine. If both of us approach the conversation with the assumption that we have something to learn, chances are we will.”
Now, I’m not restricting this post to address men only.
Women do this too.
However, what I’ve observed is that when men speak down to women whether they wish to or not- an underlying tone of impressing women with their ‘awesome knowledge’, hearing themselves speak (is there a…better way to say this?), or not being able to get out of their own heads in the moment, can be negative thing.
I mean, great. Conversations can be a productive and enlightening tool for everyone but it won’t mean a thing if the person on the other end won’t extend a measure of respect and lend an empathetic ear as the person on the other end is doing.
