Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus : A dating bible or an outdated approach on dating?

Long back, the title of this book caught my eyes, but I just forgot about it. Recently, while I was randomly scrolling through my storytel app shelf, I found this one again, and because it was a short read, I decided to give it a try. I always presumed this book to be hilarious based on the title, but I was wrong. This book is full of insights, psychological analysis, communication methods and stuff.

The book majorly talks about respecting the differences that we have between genders which includes the way of thinking, reacting mechanism, expectations from the partners, triggering elements, etc. I found all the information very insightful. The best part is, John Gray explained this with examples which is commendable. It is safe to say that the book has some great ways to effectively communicate with people of the opposite sex. A lot of information feels like dating advice, which I think, is the aim of this book, so the purpose is met.

BUT…

Other than this insightful and interesting part, I believe this book needs some retouch. Care to know why? Read on.

Considering the book was published in 1992, I will not use words like ‘stereotypical’ or ‘gender roles’ when I say that this book tries to put particular gender in a box. This book surely focuses on effective communication between genders, but it generalizes so many things. Not all women, or all men, react in the same way or want the same things. I won’t say that this book is completely sexist, but if the people of our generation read this, it could be triggering. I feel that the author generalized the concepts because almost 80% of people fit into his definitions… so considering that, the book is extremely insightful. But to make this book inclusive, and as many people call it ‘ a dating bible’, the author should consider rephrasing things that sound way too generalized about a particular gender.

I still recommend this book because many parts of this book are eye-openers, and you will get some advices that nobody has offered you in your entire life. But you have been warned about the generalization, so if you fall into that 20%, be ready to get mildly triggered. But I want you to read this one.