Say what you mean

I was watching an episode of Cashmere Mafia last nite - and it was interesting that it was about men who generally are unable to accept a more successful woman. Men have hang-ups about women who are not helpless and seeking their 'help' whatever it may be.
There may be some truth to it, since my male classmate thinks that way too. We were just having a casual conversation about relationships - the mess he's in etc, and this bit came up. Without paraphrasing, he did say that it may be taken that a woman refused him more than his help when offered. It's funny when all this time, I know that men think women never say what we mean, but taken in this context, apparently, they don't either.
When dealing with a woman, who is a professional by her own merit, often, she means what she says - and by that I'm refuting the myth that women never say what they mean. Forget the male ego - but if a man is unable to cope with a woman who knows what she wants, then does that mean that men can only attend to women who are always in need - the lady in distress syndrome?
So what happens to women who are able to stand on their own two feet, women who speak their minds and mean what they say? Women who generally do not need to be 'fathered'?
I think this is a huge underlying problem in reality because this is the reality. When a woman seeks a good friendship, it doesn't mean she is in dire need of tending to, she may just need some good companionship. Both parties in a relationship need tending to, when the situation calls for it, but it never does mean that she's in more of a need than him. There will be times she may need his tenderness more than he needing hers - but isn't that part of what relationships are all about? The give and take?
I thought this to be interesting because this is happening in the real world.
I know, because I'm a professional and my guy classmate thinks I cope too well which could be rather scary for guys - we are both trained in the same field, and he still has this hang-up - imagine that - we are study mates and maintain a good friendship off and on campus.
And so, where does this leave me?
I have no clue except that this is me and any one who cares enough about me, would be expected to function at the same level yet know that if I really didn't need him, he wouldn't be anywhere within my circle. What I mean to say is: If I didn't need a guy friend, to be my conscience, my buddy, my sanity, then he wouldn't even have had the opportunity to come close - he would be seen as either a rival or someone not worth my personal time.