If you find yourself on Good Feed, no doubt you’ve heard about the “End of Men,” the story from the Atlantic this summer that presented some frightening statistics for the heterogametes among us, and argued, pretty effectively, that “modern, postindustrial society” might just be “better suited to women.”
Yes, America’s manscape (no, I’m not talking about chest hair) is undergoing some serious upheaval. Apart from the gains made by women in academia and the workplace over the past few decades, “men have retained their lead in alcoholism, suicide, homelessness, violence, and criminality,” according to a story in the latest Newsweek. Sweet.
The Newsweek piece, “Men’s Lib,” sets out to answer the question, “if men are going off the rails, how do they get back on track?”
“To survive in a hostile world,” authors Andrew Romano and Tony Dokoupil argue, “guys need to embrace girly jobs and dirty diapers.” As emasculating as that may sound to some, they make a fairly convincing case for more parental leave for dads, and initiatives (both public and private) to prepare men for jobs that have been traditionally held by women.
The question is, can men’s attitudes about what constitutes masculinity catch up with the rapidly changing economic realities?
As the guys at Newsweek put it, “what’s more masculine: being a strong, silent, unemployed absentee father, or actually fulfilling your half of the bargain as a breadwinner and a dad?”
Fair enough.
But perhaps the best question of all: must a picture of Brangelina accompany the article?
(Be sure to check out the pictorial time-line of masculinity in America, from which the above picture—and hilarious caption—is taken.)
