Friday, October 26, 2012

Is a Woman's Success Killing Her Man?


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Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Is a Woman's Success Killing Her Man?


Hanna Rosin author of The End of Men and the Rise of Women was recently interviewed by Tucker Carlson of the Daily Caller on C-Span. Rosin is a senior editor at The Atlantic and a founder and editor at DoubleX, Slate’s women’s section. She lives in Washington D.C. with her husband, daughter and two sons.

By Barbara LaBier


The End of Men and the Rise of Women deals with the impact of the recent economic downturn on the lives of people which has contributed to a lack of jobs for men in particular and has changed marriage, fatherhood and women’s rights. While the present generation of women have become more educated, with better credentials and the ability to be more nimble at work, men are loosing ground. Some women, for example, have three advanced degrees and have become a majority in the workforce, outstripping men since the1980’s. This is quite different than the generation of 40 years ago when in 1962 women were unfulfilled staying at home raising children and men were happier in the workplace. Is it a case of nature or nurture? Girls from early childhood on have the genes to learn easier and faster than boys. Endowed with great sitting capacity, they take direction well and have the communication skills prerequisite for success in the classroom. Their mothers were willing to make a financial investment in them because they are winners.

More recent generations of woman have the determination of immigrants bent on success. They strike get ahead and charge forward. After the Second World War after the men returned home they were educated using the GI Bill and found good paying solid manufacturing jobs that are not present today in the US.

As a result there has been a major catastrophe caused by our economy and many men have no jobs resulting in mangled egos says Rosin. In the past, small towns had factory work where you could start at the bottom and work your way up to manager and make a decent living of $70-$80,000 a year. Today these jobs don’t exist. And you can blame Mitt and Bill for the outscourcing. And recently I hard a report on C-span that said womwn have lost thousands of jobs during the last four years.

Successful women, who live in back water towns, generally come from Christian families where the man is the spiritual head of the household but not necessarily the breadwinner, says Rosin. These women find it easier to start at the bottom and move up. Men are not happy about working in healthcare as nurses or as teachers and feel emasculated serving in these roles. The jobs in these fields, however, stereotypical of womens' work have been a financial boon for women and opened the door to new jobs.

House husbands in urban areas who take care of their children during the day while their wife works as the breadwinner are viewed as strange by people still have prejudices and think that there's something with wrong with a man taking care of the children, concludes Rosin.

Not all men are good providers and some women keep their husbands around because they protect their wives in a pinch. In Scandinavian countries, for example, couples live together and raise the children but don't marry. In America, however, we are more conservative and sold on marriage. Parents are spending more time with their kids these days and worry they may be over scheduling their children’s day. House husbands take care of everything during the day but often once the woman comes home we find her tinkering in the kitchen. So men are resentfull that they don't have their own space or a job. Couples flip-flop and take turns at being the head of the household and the breadwinner.

The man have developed more fragile equality in the workplace today. Often women work less hours but expect equal pay. Rosin mentions that she watched her own husband getting the children ready to take them away for a few days so she could finish a chapter in her book and was conscious of her criticizing what he was doing in her mind. He was doing things differently than she would have done but fortunately she kept her mouth shut and everything was o.k.

Myths say women are not good in math and science, but they are debunked when you look at other cultures such as Eastern Europe and Asia where women do very well in these subjects. In the area of affirmative action in some cases, women get preferential treatment when applying for SBA loans. Given the fact men have been beaten down and feminized by their over achieving partners, perhaps, they need an affirmative action program to help them start businesses, conclude other men.

Questions about gender and the impact of work are far from  resolved. Women fought for help from men for more active participation in raising children. Along the way, they have earned good jobs as well. Yet, they still have problems. Men, on the other hand are not happy.  Some men have a lurking feeling that the more that men take on nurturing roles the more men feel women will not be very attracted to them  and they will dump them for a macho guy.











Is a Woman's Success Killing Her Man?