Review: Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus

Today, we saw a production of "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus.. Live!" at the Montgomery Theater in San Jose.

I didn't expect it to be a one-man show, but it was pretty funny and enjoyable. We had a lot of laughs during the two hours of the show.

According to John Gray, men and women need different things.

• Women need AU (symbol for gold): Attention and Understanding
• Men need TA (Trust and Appreciation)

Here is what Montgomery Theater had to say:

When Mars and Venus collide, the adventures are earth-shatteringly hysterical. Men Are From Mars – Women Are From Venus LIVE! is more than just the book. 

After beginning in Paris in 2007, Men are From Mars–Women are From Venus LIVE! has been seen by more than one million people around Europe. It debuted in the United States in February 2013 in Raleigh, North Carolina and is playing to audiences around the United States and Canada throughout the year. 

This hysterical show will have couples elbowing each other all evening as they see themselves on stage. Sexy and fast paced, this show is definitely for adults, but will leave audiences laughing and giggling like little kids!

According to Wikipedia:

Gray writes that men and women each monitor the amount of give and take in relationships, and if the balance shifts, with one person feeling they have given more than they have received, resentment can develop; that is a time when communication is very important in helping to bring the relationship back into balance. He further states that men and women view giving and receiving love differently, as regards the "tallying" of individual acts of love. According to Gray, women and men are often surprised to find that their partners "keep score" at all, or that their scoring methods are different.^{[citation needed]}He says women use a points system that few men are aware of, where each individual act of love gets one point, regardless of magnitude; men, on the other hand, assign small acts fewer points, with larger blocks of points (20, 30, 40 points, etc.) going to what they think are big ones. To a woman, the emotional stroke delivered by sincere attention is as important as the value of the act. That can lead to conflict, when the man thinks his work has earned him, say, 20 points and deserves corresponding recognition, while the woman has assigned him only 1 point and recognizes him accordingly. The man tends to think he can do one Big Thing for her (scoring 50 points) and not do much else, assuming the woman will be satisfied with that, and she will give him kudos. Instead, the woman would rather have many little things done for her on a regular basis, because women like to think their men are thinking of them and care for them more constantly. That approach adds up to the strokes men are looking for.
Another major idea put forth in Gray's book regards the difference in the way the genders react to stress. Gray states that when men's tolerance to stressful situations is exceeded, they withdraw temporarily, "retreating into their cave", so to speak. Often, they literally retreat: for example, to the garage, or to go spend time with friends. In their "caves", men (writes Gray) are not necessarily focussed on the problem at hand; the "time-out" lets them distance themselves from the problem and relax, allowing them to re-examine the problem later with a fresh perspective.
Gray holds that retreating into the cave has historically been hard for women to understand, because when they become unduly stressed, their natural reaction is to talk with someone close about it (even if talking doesn't provide a solution to the problem at hand). That leads to a natural dynamic where the man retreats as the woman tries to grow closer, which becomes a major source of conflict between them.
The "wave" is a term Gray uses to describe a natural dynamic that is centered around a woman's ability to give to other people. He writes that when she feels full of love and energy to give to others, her wave is stable. When she gives of herself, but doesn't receive adequate love and attention in return, her wave becomes unbalanced, cresting and eventually crashing. Then, a woman needs the attention, listening, understanding, and reassurance of those around her—as well as self-love. Gray holds that once she is rejuvenated by getting the support she needs, her wave is able to build and rise once again, with abundant love and energy to give. Men, advises Gray, should support that natural cycle by not being threatened by it or telling her why she should not feel that way.