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Men have been the dominant sex since the dawn of mankind. But the author has noticed that this long-held truth is, astonishingly, no longer true. At this unprecedented moment, by almost every measure, women are no longer gaining on men: they have pulled decisively ahead. And "the end of men", the title of her Atlantic magazine cover story on the subject, has entered the lexicon as dramatically as Betty Friedan's "Feminine Mystique," Simone de Beauvoir's "Second Sex," Susan Faludi's "Backlash," and Naomi Wolf's "Beauty Myth" once did. In this book, the author reveals how this new state of affairs is radically shifting the power dynamics between men and women at every level of society, with profound implications for marriage, sex, children, work, and more. With wide-ranging curiosity and insight unhampered by assumptions or ideology, the author shows how the radically different ways men and women today earn, learn, spend, couple up, even kill, has turned the big picture upside down.… (more)
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I don't agree with her: I don't think this is a terrible book. Indeed I think it is a moderately interesting
To extend these trends to "The End of Men", however, is carrying the arguement way too far. Statistical evidence shows that even if some women in some places are narrowing the pay gap, women as a whole are not. And women are taking in more of the burden of child rearing than they did in the past, when they worked less. Moreover, some of the relative economic shifts that Ms. Rosen notes probably have more to do with cyclical developments (a bad recession that slammed construction) than with any sort of gender regime shift.
Given the continued pay gap, and the continued lack of female representation at the top of most organizational pyramids, Ms. Rosin's title looks way overblown. Some of her critics may fear that her arguments give comfort to those who say, for example, that affirmative action for women is not needed.
It is always tempting to dismiss arguments entirely if parts of those arguments are suspect. It is particularly tempting when some of the political implications of the argument go in directions that are troubling to, for example, feminists. (As an old feminist who spent a career in Wall Street, I have trouble with the end of men view -- there, I knew I couldn't review this book without making a political statement).
But the book is still worth reading. Women are improving their relative position, gradually, and this is a trend with social implications that deserve consideration. By taking (at least in her title) an extreme view, Ms. Rosin has certainly cranked up discussion of the topic of how social and economic roles are changing. That's a contribution.
While it’s full of provocative statistics and anecdata that certainly spoke to my particular situation, the book could have used a much greater focus on class: it’s not just that manufacturing jobs are disappearing, it’s that lots and lots of jobs are hard to support a family on, and that’s a social choice, not just a phenomenon of lots of individual choices. US politics is also almost absent; while Rosen talks about changes in high-end businesses making it easier for women at the top to raise children, she doesn’t talk about government policy like mandatory leave for new parents. Nor does she discuss government employment, which (at lower levels) has historically been good for women but means the recession has hit them extra hard as states shed employees and (at higher levels) remains male-dominated in the US to the extent that we are still, somehow, talking about whether using contraception is your employer’s business. The “rise of women” has a long way to go, especially as long as it is framed as a comparative one. Red Families, Blue Families would be a good book to read this one to emphasize that, while Rosin does look at women and men across the economic spectrum, the meanings and long-term implications of these changes may be very different across that spectrum.
But like I said, it's an interesting topic. I've actually had two women - one a licensed engineer with two children and a stay-at-home househusband - ask me to loan the book to them, "to see if I can see myself in it" they said. May they have better luck than I did, because I sure didn't see myself having much in common with the book's examples of men. Although really that's a good thing: let the best man win, after all.
This is a most thought-provoking book, one that's meant to be read and widely discussed - it is a serious research-based effort that evaluates how our society has changed in a remarkably small amount of time, not a man-bashing
The End of Men starts with an economic argument: that women are better at adapting in this economy and thus reaping the rewards while men lag behind. Based on the statistics Rosin cites, women comprise well more than half of the workforce, and these days women are outpacing men in just about every aspect of our society - in the United States and in many other parts of the world.
For instance, women are also performing better in school while male college enrollment and matriculation continue to decline. These factors, in turn, have a profound effect on marriage, the workplace, family life, etc. More and more women are marrying later or opting out of marriage altogether (although they do choose to have children), particularly among the working class.
Meanwhile, we've had recessions, the housing crisis, and a steady loss of manufacturing and other blue-collar jobs that typically employed men. The classic work we associate with men such as construction and factory work have dried up.
Is this why we have the angry white male we hear about in the media? It seems that these issues would definitely be a factor as men see their jobs/livelihoods fade away. Rosin also notes that the demands of the new economy - which rewards social intelligence and the ability to sit still and listen - favor women over men.
But the book is not all hopeless - while Rosin cannot fully explain why women have forged ahead so strongly she does cite examples of men who have changed with the times. For example, men whose wives outearn them and who are adapting to this new world - while they admit it's not always easy, these men are leading a real change in the family dynamic.
As we move forward, will more men gravitate to traditionally female jobs? Men seem to be reluctant to take jobs traditionally associated with women. But women are part of the problem because many of them still look askance at men in "untraditional" roles.
Rosin does not try to offer any pat answers, and if anything, this book could be a great springboard to discuss some of these issues: why do gender roles still seem so ingrained in our society? Are our schools not serving men, and if not, what should we do? Highly recommended reading.
We've all watched employment/unemployment trends and the effect of the end of the Industrial Age with interest and, some, with fear. Rosin focuses on the idea that strength and brawn are no longer necessary in the new technological age, and
While reading the first part of the book, I felt sad, as the mother of a man, the wife of a man, and the daughter of a man. It was rather depressing seeing the statistics about men no longer getting as much formal education as women. The unemployment during this vast social shift may have hit men the hardest as far as self image goes. Because our gender split society has valued men as money makers and women as bodies, (sometimes symbolized by a dollar sign and a Barbie doll), when they lose this money making function, they may and indeed have been, cast aside in some cases. If they aren't bringing home an income, what is their purpose? Many haven't yet become skilled in the functions of homemaking or child raising, which are needed by their families as their wives become the major breadwinners.
However, don't become discouraged - keep reading! There is a happy ending for most. Just as many women have struggled to learn how better to be competitive and function at higher levels as executives, as well as letting go of some of their possessiveness as mothers and letting dads move in more, men have also risen to their challenges. They are learning that letting go of some of the more negative aspects of the macho culture can pay off in deeply emotionally fulfilling roles as fathers and nurturers, as well as partners in marriages. Both men and women are becoming more fulfilled, better adjusted, and less stressed people.
Rosin traces this pattern by examining current day marriages, the struggles of making adjustments, and the rewards of this newer model. She explores how these changes are taking place worldwide by closely examining this phenomenon in Korea and other countries. This new and deeper sharing of both the instrumental as well as expressive functions of working and parenting is paying off financially both for individual couples AND whole countries. Companies taking advantage of more women in their higher ranks are finding themselves prospering as they become more creative and innovative.
When I was teaching gender identity development, I emphasized how sexism hurts men, because there has been much written already about how it hurts women. Most people can easily answer the question of how sexism hurts women. This is a great book that shows not only how sexism has hurt women, but how devastating it has also been for men, and how we are all benefitting from our new movement toward equality.
Although this book covers some complicated research and complicated issues, it is very readable - a great read in fact. It is full of personal stories that illustrate the research presented. I highly recommend it.
My opinion is that some of the chapters needed some pruning then a little more time could have been spent on the issues in schools and the current economic plight of the middle class. Growing disparities in income and the shrinking of the middle class must surely play into the plight of men. With these caveats I would recommend the The End of Men to anyone interested in gender issues.
In addition, I have a real problem with the way that Rosin describes much of the research summarized in this book. She briefly cites Armstrong & Hamilton as evidence of the lack of harm and power of women in so-called college hookup culture, but Armstrong & Hamilton's work -- both articles and their book, Paying for the Party -- is much more complex and nuanced than here. They would not subscribe to the views Rosin espouses. Similarly, Edin's work on marriage values and childbearing among low-income women is so much more complex than the short shrift it's given here. Anyone familiar with the literature on this topic will find Rosin's book far from compelling in its presentation, much less get to her very problematic conclusion.
Meanwhile there are random comments that simply don't make sense. She offhandedly dismisses that the Christian Right wants to restrict women's reproductive rights. Perhaps she is unaware how many states have passed restrictions on this in recent years? This is not something that can simply be dismissed.
I would have enjoyed interacting with a cogent opinion to which I don't subscribe, but this was so poorly argued that it just doesn't get there. Anyone with more than a passing familiarity with the sociology literature will be especially appalled.
What I found was a thoughtful, well-written, primary-source-referencing summary of where she things we are, in regards to