THE MAN SHOW – Guest Post by RachelintheOC

There seems to be a separation between what women understand about men and what men think women understand about men.

Now in all fairness, some gals don't seem to comprehend, and are truly taken aback by, their man's need for speed, sports, and bro-time. They get upset, feel slighted and take personally, his "rude" behavior when he chooses those pursuits over her. Well, that and er, the latest and greatest hard drive that just can't wait.

I've reviewed this whole scenario in my eBook A Walk In The Snark and several past blog posts including this Chickspeak post: I'm Fine. Deconstructed. She's thinking, it's really up to the dude to get with the program if he ever wants to have sex with me again. He's thinking what the hell? I just watched the game with my bros at Hooters. I want some lovin, woman.

Ah, the dance.

One fella told me my Mancode blog embarrasses him because he sees in himself the dude he doesn't want to be but knows he is. He laughs about it but says it hurts a little. When I asked him to explain further, he said that women aren't supposed to understand that men don't have it all figured out. Um, really? I know, I know, he said. We get that you get that we don't get everything. Just don't tell us that you get it!

So. We're back to the male ego. For big, strong, hairy men, the male ego is an awfully fragile, delicate little thing, isn't it? I mean, we chicks don't have it all together for god's sake. We cry about our shortcomings, in particular our split ends. We bitch to our husbands, girlfriends, hell, even our dogs about our nails, dry skin, or fat asses. Or occasionally the state of the world.

Women have perfected The Vent.

I can admit that I'm a bitch, I'm not perfect, and I hate housework. A woman can get away with admitting their faults far easier than men can in our society. I freely admit my addiction to nude lip gloss and pretty black shoes. Yet, when I write that (gasp!) men are not perfect on my blog (you want to change the world but you can't change a toilet paper roll?), I tend to get comments ranging anywhere from calling me a bitch (like, I know), to someone like this admittedly nice enough guy who's afraid of what I might discuss next for fear of meeting his truth.

Perhaps I missed that day in class that said I have to believe men are perfect just cause they themselves believe it and tell me they are (seriously, go read my comments sometime). I don't make it up. You guys are handing me material. It's great.

What I do is observe male behavior and deconstruct it, with humor. It's already there, baby.

I'm just here to enjoy the show.

Who IS RachelintheOC? A redhead in a sea of blondes. A chick who decodes women for guys (Chickspeak) and deconstructs men (Mancode) with humor. She also writes about lost love. Her blog has been nominated for Funniest Blog in 2010 (Blogluxe.com) though you will often find poignant stories about love and loss.

Rachel also cofounded the Indie Book Collective ( @IndieBookIBC on Twitter) this past fall, along with authors Carolyn McCray and Amber Scott, where they teach writers how to use social media to sell their work. Their promotions Blog Tour De Force and Bestseller For A Day will soon be written up in major national publications as well as addressed at a self-publishing panel discussion at #SXSW where Carolyn is a panelist with Writer's Digest editor Jane Friedman and John Sundman.

Her non-fiction book, A Walk In The Snark: Best of RachelintheOC is available in eBook format on Amazon for $2.99. She just cracked the Top 100 Humor (#67 Parenting and Family) List in just two weeks of release.

She's currently working on her next book, The Mancode: A Survivor's Tale.