“Why do girls talk on the phone so much?”

The simple answer? Talking on the phone helps girls feel connected to the world around them, and girls tend to enjoy feeling connected. As a general rule, they like to know what is happening in their friends’ lives because girls share in each other’s joys and sorrows.

Sociologists have looked at this phenomenon for years and written books like Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus and Men Are Like Waffles, Women Are Like Spaghetti. For whatever reason (and I am not willing to say what that reason might be, because who knows) women weave social networks that help them feel secure, wanted, loved, and included, and that help other women feel secure, wanted, loved and included. Women value and are valued by relationships, while men…just don’t seem to treat relationships the same way. Most men I know have at least one particularly close friend, but outside of that, their friendships are just there. They tend to be compartmentalized instead of interconnected, too, so if one guy moves away, it doesn’t upset the balance of their social world. Guys can go a long time without talking to their friends because each individual friendship doesn’t connect to all the other ones. Girls want to be able to keep everything connected, and texting or talking on the phone helps them maintain those connections.