No topic was off-limits, as nearly 300 students gathered in Kendall Hall to hear Lori Hart Ebert speak in a workshop titled, "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About the Opposite Sex," on Oct. 22.
Ebert spoke about male and female stereotypes, gender communication and how to face challenges for a healthy relationship. She began by asking the audience what they find most mind-boggling about the opposite sex.
Some women in the audience mentioned men often say one thing while doing another, while some men questioned why women always have to be right. And "they won't let bygones be bygones," according to one audience member.
"So many of us let stereotypes guide our beliefs," Ebert said.
She later discussed how women and men display what she calls "complicated versus simple."
"For the college male, you are so simple, that women want to complicate the hell out of you," she said.
Ebert charmed the crowd with her witty comments and creative stories.
"She really brought out the best in both males and females in a positive way," Amy McLellan, sophomore business major, said. "Her workshop really gave me a new outlook on relationships."
Ebert also touched on the topic of gender theories, saying, "One of the things women do is we fill our brains with a bunch of crap."
The audience seemed to agree when Ebert talked about how women communicate in the form of asking questions.
Ebert concluded her workshop by explaining that the average female needs reassurance, caring, understanding, respect and appreciation, while the average male needs trust, acceptance, devotion, admiration, approval and encouragement to deem a relationship healthy, a theory noted in the book, "Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus," by John Gray.
"In relationships, you have to give what the other person needs to receive," Ebert said. "If you listen to her for 10 minutes a day, I promise it will transform your relationship."
