Whether or not men like poetry seems to be a trivial question at first. And also very dependent on the character of each individual. I want to point out right away that this is not meant to be a generalization about things that are clearly a matter of personality. However, there are some key characteristics that generally, but not always, tend to be very genre-specific and we are going to take a closer look at those related to interest in poetry.
Women love words. I know this is a cliché, but any woman who is honest with herself will admit that communication through language is as important to her in creating intimacy as anything else. Talking makes a woman feel a strong bond with the person she is talking to and, through words, she can express and experience herself.
Poetry is the art of adding words together in such a way that they form emotions. So, at first, it would seem natural that women would be especially attracted to this art form.
Men don’t usually associate emotions with both words and actions. However, the man of the greatest poetry writers in history were men.
So how do we explain men’s interest in poetry even though it doesn’t excite them as much as women?
The answer to that may lie in another feature that distinguishes poetry from other forms of writing. Poetry is also very faithful to the structure. Although the poems are very directed towards feelings, expressions and emotions, they also follow patterns, sometimes very strict. This is something that has great appeal to the male brain.
Poems capture something in a structure that might otherwise even seem inexplicable or difficult to capture in writing. The clarity of poetry allows for a deep understanding of situations, feelings, or things that would otherwise be difficult to grasp.
Considering this, I believe that men and women can enjoy poetry equally but for very different reasons.
While women admire the feelings that poetry provokes and makes them feel, men like poems for exactly the opposite reason: because they capture and tame something that would otherwise seem like an overly chaotic collection of sensations.
The poems trigger an experience for the women while offering a point of view that is a great starting point for analyzes of the men. Again, I’m not saying that both genders can’t experience both equally, but this is a general observation based on the average of what I’ve found.
So, to summarize my argument and answer the question: yes, men do enjoy poetry, but not for the same reasons as women.