One reason women live longer than men is that men don't like to go to the doctor.

Women, even as young girls, get used to being subjected to "invasive procedures": having to spread their legs and having someone's fingers (usually a man's) inserted into their most private parts. It's part of being a girl, and later, a woman.

Men, even as boys, aren't subjected to that kind of humiliation. Our private parts are on the outside, so nobody probes us so intimately.

This changes when men get older, when their prostate gland becomes more susceptible to cancer, when the doctor needs to put his gloved finger into our anus to feel the prostate to be sure everything is okay in there. But even then, many men never have this test done. It's not all that painful -- uncomfortable, to be sure, but not painful -- but men, having been boys, are reluctant to be "invaded" that way.

The result? Lots more men die of that kind of cancer than is necessary.

Women, being smarter (I think) than men, monitor their internal health much more carefully, subjecting themselves to very unpleasant examinations much earlier than men. As a result, they probably detect problems that need to be dealt with and get the proper treatment that allows them to live a while longer than they might have.

Men also don't deal with pain as well as women. I don't have any medical studies to back me up on this, but my experience is that men are much more reluctant to be cut on than women, who, again, eventually grow used to the idea that they may have to have surgeries to (1) prevent an un-intended pregnancy, (2) take some growth from an ovary or a breast, (3) make delivery of a healthy child possible, (4) remove all their female plumbing (the dreaded hysterectomy).

Men, most I know, would just put a gun to their head before they would endure any of this.

I knew a man who wouldn't go through the relatively minor surgery of a vascectomy but instead subjected his wife to the possibility of more and more pregnancies, even though they had no money to support the kids they had. He was afraid of the knife. What a wimp, huh?

I knew another man who had a heart attack and had no primary physician because he hadn't been to see a doctor for years. He was treated in the emergency room of a hospital, where no one knew him or his history or family history.

Again, I think one reason men don't live as long as women is that we, the men, are in denial about our bodies and our health and the problems that lie in wait for us. We're used to being okay, able to get around, feeling pretty good -- and so in fear of being told that something is wrong and that we're going to have to change our eating and exercise habits. Or that we're going to have to have some invasive procedure that may (1) cause us pain and (2) give us bad news.

Guys -- face it -- are masters of denial. (I'm one, so I know.) We just want everything to go on as it was before. No sudden changes. No dire warnings. No admonitions to do anything different, even if it might save our lives. We would rather just keep on keeping on, pretending that all is as it's always been. Hey, if we don't go to the doctor, we'll never hear the warnings we want more than anything to ignore, right?

I'm sure that any women reading this are simultaneously nodding and shaking their heads. Yes, it's all true; no, men are aren't doing enough when it comes to their health. I'm sure some men are conscientious about check-ups, etc., but I'm betting most aren't. But you have to remember: We're also the ones who want all marital spats to just resolve themselves, without our having to own up to anything, so the status quo can continue.

The best of men are simple creatures: good and strong and reliable and dependable -- and utterly in denial.

Hey, you gotta love 'em, no? Or not.