Men are from Mars. Women are from Venus.
I’m sure you’ve heard that phrase before. Maybe you’ve even read the book by JohnGray, though it first came out more than thirty years ago. I find his book title to be fitting in describing women as “Venusians” and men as“Martians.”
Gray explores what those labels mean in some detail and add slots of insightful comments about the sexes. But for now, let’s just look at the obvious:
Men and women are from two different planets.
I’ll always remember a conversation I was having with a group of ‘girl dads’ awhile back when one of the men was trying to make that very point, only he couldn’t remember the book title quite right. We all roared with laughter when he said, “Women really are from Venus and Men are from … is it Pluto?!”
I didn’t realize until later that the estimated distance between Mars and Venus is anywhere between 35 and 222 million miles, while the distance between Venus and Pluto is actually much farther than that—about three billion miles, which probably more accurately reflects the gap between men and women!
To state the obvious: We don’t think the same. We don’t talk the same. We don’t feel the same. We don’t live the same. Our wiring as men and women is different. Our needs are different.Our priorities are different.
A lot of dads start on this journey of intentionally pursuing their daughters’ hearts thinking their relationships are just going to be distant and can’t get much closer. They’ve resigned themselves to believing that the three-billion-mile gap is not only normal, but is a fact that can’t be altered.
I talked to a couple of dads recently who admitted to blowing it with their daughters. Each one is now living with relational distance as a result. They feel they’re going to have to live with it the way it is.
But let me clearly shout a message of hope to these dads and to each of you:
Yes, it can be changed …
but YOU are the one who needs to move your planet closer to hers.
