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Are men finished?

Posted at 12:02 PM on September 26, 2011 by Bob Collins (7 Comments)

NPR's Intelligence Squared series recently considered this question: Are men finished?

Are women in the process of replacing men in a male-dominated society? Or are women catching up to men?

"In 2010, women became the majority of the workforce. As recently as the 1980, the working woman was such a novelty that she became the subject of several sitcoms. Last year, women became 54% of all American managers. One in five men are out of work; that's the highest percentage that's ever existed." Hanna Rosin, a journalist for Slate and The Atlantic, said.

"It's not that women are smarter," she said. "Women have something -- some sociologists call it grit -- it's some special formula that's required for success these days and women have it in abundance."

"It's true that minimally educated men are in serious trouble," countered Christina Hoff Sommers, a former philosophy professor. "Instead of declaring men finished because of their educational deficits, we should be looking for ways to make classrooms more friendly to boys and men. We are living in an era you could call W.A.W. -- women are wonderful. It used to be fashionable to celebrate men superiority over women. Today a new kind of reverse chauvinism is in ascendancy - female chauvinism.

"If women do something better than men, that's evidence of their superiority. If men outperform women, that's proof of discrimination and the continuing male culture," she said.

The audience didn't buy it. Before the debate, 20 percent of those in the audience in New York agreed with "men are finished," 54 percent against, with 26 percent undecided. After the debate, 66 percent supported the motion and 29 percent opposed it and said men are toast.

Here's the full debate.

Here's a transcript.

Comments (7)

Yeah... I'll believe it when I see it--especially in political representation and lawmaking.

Posted by Allie | September 26, 2011 12:09 PM

(That goes doubly for developing countries.)

Posted by Allie | September 26, 2011 12:10 PM

Women have had to develop grit in response to the challenges of entering the workforce while remaining mothers. There was noone to pick up the household tasks they had been doing as their primary jobs in previous generations. Speaking generally (and yes, there are exceptions), men have picked up some of the slack but not all. Further, it seems like many women have poured themselves into bettering themselves to compete in what had been a man's world. Meanwhile, many men, particularly those of Gens X and Y, slipped into obsessions with sports and video games. Women rose to a challenge. How will we challenge men and boys?

Posted by Alison | September 26, 2011 12:30 PM

My father taught me long ago that this is what we call a "catch 22" and the best way out of such situations is to smile, and say "Yes Dear"

Posted by jon | September 26, 2011 12:59 PM

Hey! Women were just granted the right to drive and to vote in municipal elections in Saudi Arabia! ( Maybe someday women will be granted the right to keep their clitoris.)

Posted by Jim Shapiro | September 26, 2011 2:20 PM

Alison - Great analysis!

Prohibition was a well-intended but wrongly executed action led by women who were fed up with men being irresponsible to their families.

How about a sex boycott of men who spend an inordinate amount of time playing computer games and watching professional sports? :-)

Posted by Jim Shapiro | September 26, 2011 2:38 PM

I'll let Stephen Colbert reply for me: Phd in opening jars

Posted by Ben | September 26, 2011 4:23 PM