Research findings that indicate why men "don't listen" to women were recently published in the NeuroImage journal.  I thought this was an interesting idea so I had to share it. 

It turns out that the male brain actually has to work harder to decipher what a woman is saying because it initially interprets the voice as music.  Since it is not really music, the brain then must go "into overdrive" to determine what is really being said.  Apparently the male brain is "not designed" to listen to female voices!

On the other hand, males have no trouble listening to other males speak as they use a different part of the brain to decipher a males voice, which it automatically interprets as speech.

According to researcher Michael Hunter, "the female voice is actually more complex than the male voice, due to differences in the size and shape of the vocal cords and larynx between men and women, and also due to women having greater natural 'melody' in their voices. This causes a more complex range of sound frequencies than in a male voice.  When men hear a male voice they process it in. . . the part of the brain where people compare their experiences to themselves, so the man is comparing his own voice to the new voice."

Here's the real kicker.  This explains why people who hallucinate or hear voices typically hear male voices;  it's too difficult for the brain to fabricate a female voice as accurately.