The Atlantic Monthly on The End of Men

The Atlantic Monthly's The End of Men covers the trends showing that post-industrial society may be better suited for women than men.

This is not a new idea.  Academics and others across a variety of disciplines have been discussing related issues for many years.  Regular readers of Smallbizlabs may remember our post, The End of Men, which provides a small business perspective on these trends. 

Despite lots of coverage of this issue (the American Prospect's article It's Not the End of Men chronicles some of the more recent books and articles), most people are surprised when exposed to these trends. 

And having discussed these trends with a variety of audiences, I can report that many react negatively to the idea that women are not only catching up to men, but may overtake them on many economic measures over the next decade. 

I think in large part this is due to the long struggle for women's equality and the hurdles yet to be cleared.  The Atlantic article describes this as:

"In feminist circles, these social, political, and economic changes are always cast as a slow, arduous form of catch-up in a continuing struggle for female equality."

The recent Newsweek article -Are we There Yet? - covers some of the remaining hurdles for women. 

But as The End of Men points out: "Once you open your eyes to this possibility, the evidence is all around you."  We certainly agree. 

As with most Atlantic Monthly articles, The End of Men is very well written with lots of interesting insights and references.  It is well worth reading.

Also, Stephen Colbert's interview of the article's author is pretty amusing.

Comments

[coach wallets]

Gratitude To be grateful means you are thankful for and appreciative of what you have and where you are on your path right now. Gratitude fills your heart with the joyful feeling and allows you to fully appreciate everything that arises on your path.

[Tim Berry]

Another great post Steve, you summarize the different other hands very well. I might add this one from Huffington, about disproportionately few women in startups, into the mix:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/liz-hamburg/why-arent-there-more-wome_b_613197.html

Tim