The End is Nigh

'Jeesums' was the word that sprung to my lips upon reading The End of Men by Hanna Rosin. Mankind was about to become Womankind and according to Hanna there's little any man can do to stop it. Hanna opens her article by predicting that men will soon be the subordinate sex.

Hanna attempts to prove this by referring to how neo natal clinics now get many more requests from patients wishing the sex of their unborn to be female rather than male.

Such a preference for girls is a huge shift from the historical trend of human and even animal existence. Even way back in Ancient Greece men "tied off their left testicle in order to produce male heirs" (3, The End of Men) in a desperate attempt to ensure male offspring. This seismic change of preference for girls over boys is very recent, and in her mind illustrates how society is changing.

Hanna's explanation is that only recently has "thinking and communicating come to eclipse physical strength and stamina"(3). Up until the late 20th century it could never have been argued that brawn was more useful in the first world mass labour force than intellect. Since in general, women are less strong than men, they would have naturally been not as competitive in the common workplace. However, like horses were replaced by cars, machines have been able to replace the brawn and productiveness of humans.

Manufacturing jobs are falling in the West, either because of the introduction of machines or because these jobs are being exported to countries with lower labour costs. Meanwhile, service jobs catering the female dominated female industry continue to grow.

This is omnipresent across Western enterprise. Male dominated sectors are falling while female dominated ones continue to rise. What is worrying 'mankind' is that men seem to be reluctant to adapt in order to become more competitive. They are reluctant to do jobs stereotyped to be feminine jobs.

Meanwhile women are eagerly breaking down stereotypes, hundreds of years old. More women graduate high school than boys. More women get master degrees and more women are entering male dominated sectors than ever before. According to The End of Men women's presence in the law sector used to be virtually non existent. But now they represent 50% of the work force.

Wherever we look women are breaking down stereotypes and are succeeding in life because of it. Shouldn't men be doing the same as well?