21 Lin,

What gives you the idea they have a special need for respect any more than a wife does? I have never understood this line of thinking. It is dangerously close to the thinking that women are more easily deceived. It does not seem to have a basis in scripture and actually makes men appear to be weaker because it is taught they ‘need’ this.

What I mean is that a man has a “tender” ego that can be easily shattered. Women on the other hand tend to be able to bounce back more easily from disrespect. It is not that men have more of a need to be respected. I think that all people have a need to be respected. But men typically have a really big ego that has a thin shell covering it. A man’s ego can be large but it can be deflated easily. Often a critical word spoken that would be easily taken by a woman without much harm will critically wound a man. Speak critically to a man during love making and it will become clear that he has a tender ego. Does this make a man “weaker” than a woman? I would like to be gracious in saying that it really makes a man “different” than a woman. Now I realize that not all men fit the “norm” just as not all women fit the “norm” either. God made all of us unique. But on the whole men’s egos (although they can be excessively large) do not handle criticism as well. Perhaps some man reading this may confirm whether I am understanding this issue in the right way.

As a matter of fact, I have found that men who publicly respect their wives are more respected by others. they are viewed as strong and are not diminished by doing so.

I agree absolutely! Whether a wife or a husband, the one who lifts their spouse up instead of criticizing them in public will receive a lot of respect themselves in return.