STATS MAKE ME CRY

Dear friends;
I need to be clear on the correct intepretation of the a two-way table. I find that some poeple intepret it columnwise while others go row-wise but without necessairly observing the base of computation. I would think that if computation is based on column total (100% being at the bottom margins of the table) then intepretation should go row-wise and vice versa. For example; I came accross a report that analysed Fuel consumption choices by Sex of Household head. The columns had TYPES OF FUEL USED (solid and non-solid) and rows had SEX (male and female). The table was presented in % with frequency of people classified by sex in each type of fuel so that Males and Females add up to 100% for each fuel type. However; the intepretation was that "Male-headed households were more likely to use solid fuel than female-headed ones".. while i would think that in this case the intepretation should be "Solid fuel is more likely to be used in male-headed households than female headed households". The first intepretation in my opinion can not be made between the sexes but until we have two-columns (solid- and non-solid fuel users) distributed by sex in which case the columns are sort of independent. Please let me have your opinion

To simplify my question; are the two statements below saying the same thing in terms of how the classification table is presented in %?

1. Male-headed households are more likely to use solid fuel than female-headed ones..
2. Solid fuel is more likely to be used in male-headed households than female headed households..