When Mars and Venus collide...

My wife owns five toothbrushes, five hairbrushes and too many shoes to count. And that’s where the fundamental differences between men and women begin.

Men are from Mars and women are from Venus. Sure, but in the real world, it’s more like men are from the electronics department catching up on technology while women never leave fashion and shoe outlets.

I own a single toothbrush. Toss it when it’s done and brush my hair with my fingers and some gel for the times when going for a haircut is just out of the way.

I own four pairs of shoes, and some of my T-shirts date back to high school.

It's made me wonder if we aren’t all stereotypes to some degree or another.

While this inventorying of belongings might read as a light-hearted jest at our domestic norms, it's a mirror reflecting the gender stereotypes we subscribe to in some form or another.

We laugh, but under it lies a subtle validation of gender roles. It’s about how deeply these material distinctions are etched into our understanding of masculinity and femininity.

Take my Spartan wardrobe and fascination with gadgets and contrast this with my wife’s extensive collection. Here, the stereotype thrives, men as utilitarian and somewhat detached from the nuances of personal grooming, while women are depicted as meticulous and concerned with appearance. But let's be clear: these are not just innocent preferences. They might be social narratives that have been handed down and reinforced through generations.

My story reduces complex human preferences to simple, marketable categories. It ignores the reality of men who fashion themselves just as passionately and women who are tech-savvy enthusiasts. What’s fascinating is not what we buy, but why we feel compelled to align our purchases with these ancient templates.

Is it a learnt behaviour or are we born with it? I buy moisturiser for my skin and go for facials while my wife’s the handyman around the house because of the damage I do. And she does look hot in her legion of clothes during a hammering.