Customer Reviews

Men Are Slobs, Women Are Neat: ...And Other Gender Lies That Damage Relationships

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book was easy to read and informative and presented material that can be very helpful for everyone. It gives insight on how to build better relationships by understanding how other people and how we are wired to relate. I think this book can help people in all sorts of areas in relationships at work and at home. And for anyone already with a general idea on the concepts, this book gives good examples and helps develop a deeper understanding.

I believe this book can revolutionize relationships between men and women. It really is a tool to enhance communication by understanding personality differences and appreciating those differences rather than stereotyping one another. The practical format of the book and captivating stories and examples make it an "easy read." This book can be easily used for book clubs, classes, families and is a great way to improve your marriage. I highly recommend reading it. It can change your life.

For years I've been subscribing to beliefs from other planets! Authors Kimberly and Bob have brought me back to earth. The book is easy to read, witty, and revealing. Caution though: The myth-busting construct of the chapters will lead you to question all the societal traps that surround us and cause introspection of your own gender bias. Halfway through "Men are Slobs, Women are Neat," my college-junior daughter, Kelsie, borrowed the book for some arguments in her "Women, Literature, and Society" class. Seems her professor was pushing the class into some gender/transgender debates. Kelsie extracted Bob' and Kim's social-style approach and took the debates to a new level - and aced the class! Anecdote aside, you will find this book a go-to desk reference for all your speeches, meeting presentations, and problem-solving challenges.

This book is well organized, thought provoking, humorous, insightful and filled with realistic and pragmatic views of both sexes. As a professional who deals primarily with male-female conflict I found this book to be valuable in dispelling myths and placing gender issues in their proper perspective. The book gives direction about how to deal with the reality of each personality, rather than incorrectly presumed stereotypical behavior. I keep Men Are Slobs...on my desk for easy access and continual reference.

Before writing this, I checked out the other reviews -- and I agree with every one of them. In addition to debunking gender stereotypes, it gives valuable information about the social styles which the authors list as:

1. Analytical
2. Amiable
3. Driver
4. Expressive.

Those who have studied the four temperaments (going all the way back to Hippocrates or earlier) will find a resemblance to the authors' social style:

1. Melancholy (probably most like the analytical)
2. Phlegmatic (probably most like the amiable)
3. Choleric (probably most like the driver)
4. Sanguine (probably most like the expressive)

However, the authors mention in the book that there's a similarity, but not a 100% point-by-point likeness, either.

It gives many examples of miscommunication between couples showing how it is their social style rather than gender that have caused the communication problems. I appreciated it greatly when they showed how both men and women both have these styles and they don't generalize any one style to either particular gender. In fact, it helped me understand why I grew up communicating better with my father and brother than my mother and sister. Now that we're older, my communication with my mom and sister has improved -- partly because we're all better informed as to how our styles are and how to work with each other.

In the final chapters in the book, the authors give some extremely helpful tips on how to listen to and respond to people of each social style. As other reviewers point out, this is a "reference manual" that we can use on many occasions when dealing with people. In fact, there is even a self test to give us an idea of what our own social style is. Usually we are a mix of the four, with some stronger than others.

It's a book to be read many times and absorbed thoroughly.

I can very highly reccomend this book.