The problem with most books and articles that try to articulate exactly what women want from men is that they tend to get too specific, and since every woman on earth is different, you simply can’t generalize on what each of them want. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t a few tried and true aspects every woman wants in a partner. Let’s take a look at just a few of the things we should all want in a life partner, whether we are male or female. Please note that while most of these items should be considered automatic, there may be some women out there that don’t want any of the following things.

Above all else, what women want from men is honesty. They want to come home every night and be greeted by someone they can trust, someone that they can count on and someone they can look to for honest criticism when necessary. They want to be in a relationship that is functional, and they want to be told when that functionality is breaking down, instead of having someone who either ignores the problems or sneaks off to cheat with another woman. It could be that the honesty they are looking for will actually shorten the relationship, but many women would prefer to have a happy, honest and open relationship that fizzles out than a long and unhappy relationship built on lies.

Second, what women what from men is an ability to communicate. Men have been unfairly pigeonholed by the media and by Hollywood as being brutes that can’t string together a sentence. We’re not talking about being able to precisely articulate your emotions, although that would be nice, too, but someone who can talk about world events, someone who can engage another person in an enjoyable and compelling conversation for more than 30 seconds and someone who can make the mundane interesting. For far too long, an ability to communicate has been associated with intellectualism, which in turn, is often associated with being less macho or less of a man. In reality, almost all women would prefer to have someone to talk to instead of someone who only grunts occasionally.

Finally, what women what from men is someone who can make them laugh. If you have had the ability to make those around you break up into laughter, you know how powerful a skill that is. You were likely never unpopular in high school and you likely never had much trouble meeting new people, either. No mater how good of a match you are with your partner, if you can’t make each other laugh once in a while, the colour will fade from your partnership fast. Whether it be from clever insights on the world around them or from more formulaic jokes, the ability to make your partner laugh goes a long way.

When it gets right down to it, what women want from men is someone to love them, treat them as equals and be there for them when they need it. It really isn’t very complicated when you look at it from a logical perspective.