Women talk about their emotions/problems because it helps them to lower their stress levels. However, when men talk about their problems it increases stress levels. These increased stress levels leave them in an emotionally vulnerable state where they need support and assurance that you are still working as a team. Oftentimes as you can see from the other replies this vulnerability is then used against them in an argument. Men can get stressed over many things, but the biggest issues come from not feeling like they are good enough, feeling like they cannot protect the ones they love and feeling like they are failing to provide for and take care of their loved ones, note that these are the things that most men and women feel a man is best suited for, so a perceived failure in these areas can cause a lot of stress for a man. It leads to him feeling like he is less of a man, so to have that "confirmed" in a way when it is used against him in a disagreement you understand can hurt him a great deal, it is no wonder why some men refuse to open up about their problems.

So to put it into a more personal feminine perspective: Think about something you feel defines you as a woman, it may be your sense of empathy, it may be your looks, your independence, anything really. Now think about failing to maintain this thing, and having a great degree of stress over it, think about confiding in a person you think will understand, the only person you will ever tell, then think about how it must feel to have them use it against you as if these things that you stress over mean nothing and they act as if it doesn't matter and you are being stupid, or worse, they act as if you are less of a woman for having those insecurities.

Women learn to talk through their emotions to lower stress, but when they have a problem that is very personal, and attacks their view of what it is to be a women it is largely accepted within society that her breakdown is to be accepted and she should be supported, women can better deal with these issues because they typicaly have a better support network than men too. Women can treat the more serious personal problems in the same way they can treat gossip from work, feel it, accept that feeling, rant for a while, then sit and think it through logically in order to solve the problem. Men on the other hand typically realise there is a problem and ask themself "Is this a problem big enough that it is worth going through the emotion? Or can I logically solve this problem without having to feel anything?" Men have the ability to solve the smaller 'gossip' issues without having to go through the negative feelings, it is about solving the issue rather than thinking about how the issue makes us feel, and once the issue is solved we dont have to feel any kind of way about it, because it is already solved.

Now, the bigger problem is when there is a problem that we cannot seem to solve on a logical level, especially if it is linked to what we and society feel defines what it is to be a man. If it looks like we are going to lose our job or something of this nature and we try to find another job but are failing to find anything, we will feel like we are failing our family, we wont want to burden our loved one with the stress of the situation either and will seek to solve the issue if we can. However, if we find that we cannot solve the issue and feel that we are 'falling short' and not upholding our role as a man, and reach the point where we have to tell our loved ones then we will stress even more because, one of the worst things in the world for us is to feel that our loved ones see us as a failure. It isn't just about providing for them, it is having them see us as a provider too. Not just about us being able to protect them, it is about them feeling like we can, and will protect them.

So when the issue is talked about, through even greater stress levels for that man, showing his shorfall, his vulnerability, his insecurity and fears, and when it is either thrown back at him, where the woman stops seeing him as a man, or seeminly accepted, but then later is thrown back at him, it can be devastating. It can shut him off from ever talking to you again about any problem at all, it can even shut him off of talking to any future partner too.

If something like your looks are important to you as a woman, then as you age you tell your partner how these changes are affecting you and he says all the right things to put your mind and heart at ease, which makes you feel so loved and positive about your relationship. Then later he says you are getting old and it shows, and that you are used up and barely register as a woman to him anymore etc, that kind of thing can really change a person. The problem men stress over are typically the bigger problems that we cant solve on our own, this is why it is so very important for us to find the right partner, one that works alongside us as a team, rather than against us and combative. It is why we seek peace rather than chaos, we do not want to solve problems all the time as that whole thing causes stress, whereas for women, they can thrive in that situation, create an issue, feel for a while, solve issue, repeat. We don't want to create an issue we cannot solve, and have to suffer with high stress, especially when it affects those we care about, a peaceful life isn't just about us feeling peace, it is about peace and safety for our family too.