The Commercial Appeal

VIEWPOINT Want to know the secret to making women happy?

- Lynn Norment Guest columnist

What do women really want?

The question has been asked countless times, and there have been countless answers. Some responses are from psychiatri­sts, psychologi­sts and sociologis­ts who have studied women. Other retorts are from men who think they know women but really don’t. And there are answers from women themselves.

Maybe legendary singer Aretha Franklin summed it up best when in 1967 she first sang: “R.E.S.P.E.C.T. Find out what it means to me.”

That’s what women wanted then, and that’s what women want today. Respect at home, respect in the workplace, respect in the world. Women certainly have earned respect, and one would think that by now their partners and employers know what it means to women. Yet that is not always the case.

Women want to feel desire and safe

As we celebrate Women’s Month 2023, let’s ponder this question again. What do women really want from life? What makes women happy?

Initially, this question suggests love and personal relationsh­ips. Much has been written on what women want in romantic bonds. There are books, studies, articles, and essays.

Women want to be loved, they want to feel loved so they can be comfortabl­e and relaxed with their spouses, their partners. They want to be seen as sexually desirable, to feel that they are special. They want to be appreciate­d and get verbal confirmati­on of that appreciati­on as well.

Women also want to feel safe and secure with their partners. They want to feel they can spend time with their special person and not have to be strong or competitiv­e. They want to know that their partner will protect them when necessary. And they want to express themselves emotionall­y and sexually without being judged.

See NORMENT, Page 4V

 ?? JIM WEBER/CA FILE PHOTO; GETTY IMAGES ?? Aretha Franklin summed it up best when she sang “R.E.S.P.E.C.T.
Find out what it means to me.”
JIM WEBER/CA FILE PHOTO; GETTY IMAGES Aretha Franklin summed it up best when she sang “R.E.S.P.E.C.T. Find out what it means to me.”

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