Why can't us men understand women.

I wear big Harley Davidson boots. Most people I know wear boots as well, including women. We all notice each others' boots because it is a point of mutual interest. Herein lies the key: mutual interest. Do you have it? If so you will click, you will get along and be on a great headstart to getting to know one annother very well. If not, then you have some tough times ahead of you and chances are that you may never understand one annother.

Someone mentioned individualism trancending gender, and I believe this is true to a certain extent. In most cases it really is all about the one person, since everyone is different in ther own particular ways, however there is merit in the cats and dogs theory. When a dog is happy and/or energetic it wags it's tail, when a cat is irritated and/or too relaxed to do anything it wags it's tail, ergo the two use the exact same signals but interpret them completely differently. When the cat wants to be left alone the dog runs over and thinks it's time to play, and when the dog is feeling playful the cat backs away thinking it's "me time" for the dog. That said, the same goes for men and women on a basic level. We all use the same basic signals, however they are interpreted differently, thus causing much confusion.

Example A:
Girl: Check out my new shoes, aren't they cool?
Boy: They look similar to your previous ones. They're shoes. Do they feel more comfortable? Are you going for a walk? (SPOILER)How much did they cost?

Example B:
Boy: Check out my new tools, aren't they cool?
Girl: You have tools already. Do these ones do a better job? Are you going to make me something with them? (SPOILER)How much did they cost?

In both cases the boy and girl expressed a need to show off their new things, however it is assumed that neither one grasped the essence of the interaction (the desire to share happiness) since neither one was truly interested in the items being displayed. The resulting misinterpreted signals have halted progress towards getting to know each other better. Thankfully, if you peer closer at the included spoiler text you can see the language that both genders speak fluently which enables them to move forward by instead argueing with one annother until they get the point through their thick skulls, however I digress.

There is no substitute for mutual interest when coming to know and understand annother individual, in terms of ease at least, but there are three more tools that can make the going much smoother for men and women everywhere and they are: personal interest, sincerity, and patience. Be it in terms of friendship or romance alike you must at least have the honest desire to get to know them in the first place and not expect it to just happen overnight.

I realise that I've gone way down into this and perhaps detailed what I believe after all this time on earth, and even that my arguments way heavily upon the relationship aspect of human interaction. As well, I've gone from claiming that generalisation is faulty, to then generalising, and then crawling back out of it. However, I still hold these things to be true, to me. You all have some very interesting insights. I've been trying to put my finger on this one, myself, for many many years.

EDIT: I'd just like to add that, imo, the entire concept that "Men are like this and women are like that and that's the way it is." is in fact the root of sexism and gender typecasting throughout history (use your own examples). In as much, though it may be great fun to poke at this topic, in our present day and age of presumed equality is it not then almost hypocritical to even conceive figuring it out?