ABSTRACT
This chapter examines some of the findings of gender difference research and takes that extra step to theorize how these differences affect men and women in their grieving. One important difference in men and women on a psychological level has to do with a man's need for autonomy. It stems from many factors, one of which is the difficult separation a boy experiences from his mother at about age four. Men tend toward a hierarchical nature, viewing the world in terms of who is governing whom. Women tend to view the world through the lens of who is relating to whom. Many people have theorized about the origins of the hierarchy. Men, having become sensitized to hierarchical arrangements, can easily misinterpret requests as being "ordered around" by their wife. The men tend to naturally avoid talking about their grief for another reason. They see their grief as a burden and don't want to lay that on anybody.
