A Man Needs To Feel Needed

Believe it or not, Men need to be feel needed.

Just like women go through Menopause, Men go through Manopause. What is Manopause? Per The Manopause Man:

Manopause is a powerful force that hits men between the ages of 40 and 65, as declining testosterone collides head on with the cultural pressures men feel… pressures like having to “man up,” to be strong, powerful, even invulnerable, to hide emotion, and to always be able to perform sexually.

Sounds similar to Menopause, no?

Let’s Look At This More Closely

Men may feel:

• Vulnerable
• Emotional – hyper sensitivity
• Depression
• Moodiness
• Sexually inadequate – erectile dysfunction
• Decreased libido
• Fat
• Useless

Mind you, the majority of men who seek divorce are also between the ages of 45-64. Do you think Manopause could have something to do with this?

I don’t want to focus solely on Manopause here however, #ManTalk will become a series on My Girly Parts. It’s important that we don’t forget about the men in our lives, especially as we grow old together.

Make Him Feel Needed

As men grow older, along with the other symptoms of Manopause, Men must feel needed. Now I know a lot of my readers and friends are pretty self-sufficient and independent women, however, don’t let your man feel un-needed. This can cause him to seek “neediness” elsewhere.

The other day I asked my husband to do something for me. He totally thought I flipped my lid. Yes, we have that kind of relationship. :) I am an independent woman. I was single up until 35 years old and I learned to rely on ME, not anyone else, including a man. However, knowing about Manopause and the fact that my husband and I are in our mid to late 40’s, I decided to do a teeny bit of role-playing.

In our shower, we have a few of these.

For the record, these suction cup things are the bomb, BUT my husband takes care of them. We have them for our shampoo, condition, shaving cream, and soap dish (pictured above). Props to my hubs for picking these up!

Here’s how the convo went:

Honey, when you get in the shower today can you please move my soap thingy to the other side of the wall next to my shampoo bin please?

Why?

Because I want it on that side of the wall next to my other things.

But why?

Because I want it there and I don’t know how to take it off the wall!

Really?

So we go into the bathroom, he slides open the curtain and pops the soap thing off the wall.

Here.

How’d you do that?

Do you see the tab? Just pull it?

Are you serious? I was pushing the button. (feeling like an idiot)

Haven’t you ever noticed other suction cups that have the tab on ‘em? Even your radar detector suction cup has them.

Well I didn’t know what that was for. ;)

As he walks out of the bathroom, through the bedroom, and to the living room…

Thank you hubby!

I can’t believe you didn’t know how to do that.

Well, I just wanted to make sure you felt like you were needed. I just don’t need you for your body, your money, or your god awful flatulence. I need you to help me do things!

Mumble mumble mumble

See how I did that? My man felt needed today despite how petty it was. :)

Some men will deny the need to feel needed, however, men will also deny just about everything to do with Manopause. It’s up to us, the strong women in their life, to make sure their transition into Manopause is just as smooth as ours into Menopause. Yeah right. 

Over To You

Does the man in your life show any of the above Manopause symptoms? Again, he may deny them but women are smart and can pick up on what’s happening with them. Do you ever role play a bit in order to make your man happy and feel needed?

Please share your tips and tricks below.