The End of Men
Casper Pedersen 2.a

Men have always been the dominant force in western society both economically and politically. Most top jobs belong to men and the majority of the world’s influential politicians are male, such as Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin and the Chinese president Hu Jintao. Because of this male dominance, men have led the way of culture and society for ages. But all of this may be about to change in our postindustrial era. In her article, “The End of Men” from the magazine The Atlantic, July/August 2010, Hanna Rosin argues that woman are in fact well on the way of taking over the role as the dominant cultural force. But is she right when she proclaims “The End of Men”?

Hanna Rosin builds up her article in order to convince her readers that women are playing an increasingly influential role in society and are ultimately replacing men’s status as the dominant sex. She does this by referring to developments in the job market, in education and politics and in the pop industry. In all these important fields she sees a tendency towards female power.

Her argument is initially built on facts, “Earlier this year, women became the majority of the workforce for the first time in U.S. history. Most managers are women too. And for every two men who get a college degree this year, three women will do the same” (ll. 1-3). These facts speak to the reader’s intellect and builds up a trustworthiness, so that the reader feels that Rosin is right in pointing out the new dominance of women. In putting forward these interesting and perhaps surprising facts, she also ensures that the reader will engage in the topic. Even more so, she does this by asking relevant questions directed towards the reader, such as, “what if equality isn’t the end point? What if modern, postindustrial society is simply better suited to women?” (ll. 4-5). By opening her article in this way, she provokes her readers to reflect on the topic and take part in the discussion that the article rises.

To enforce her argument, Rosin brings in biologist Ronald Ericsson who is known to be quite a macho type. In the 1970s he developed a way of choosing the sex of a child, which he expected would be used primarily to secure that couples would get boys, but, surprisingly, most people prefer girls. This development points to the idea that girls are at least as likely of being successful in today’s society as boys. Rosin points out that this has to do with the structure of the post-industrial society where the ability to concentrate, learn and communicate outweighs traditionally male qualities of raw physical power. Ericsson acknowledges the new feminine dominance, “Women live longer than men. They do better in this economy. More of ‘em graduate from college. They go into space and do everything men do, and sometimes they do it a whole lot better. I mean, hell, get out of the way – these females are going to leave us males in the dust” (ll. 58-61). By quoting Ericsson, Rosin’s argument comes on very strong. She is not the only one who thinks male dominance has ended; even a macho type like Ericsson shares her point of view.
Finally, Rosin shows some examples to underline her argument. In politics, women are cleaning up where men have made a great mess, in places like Liberia, Rwanda and Iceland. In the work market it is predominantly ‘male jobs’ that are under pressure, while ‘female jobs’ are advancing, and the wide spread focus on education gives an advantage to girls who are better at sitting still and concentrating, while the boys’ “eyes glaze over” (l. 54). In addition to this, a new kind of woman is occurring, an “alpha female” (l. 120), “with a take-no-prisoners personality” (l. 52). Rosin headlights a few strong and independent women from popular culture, such as Demi Moore and Susan Sarandon, as symbols of this new type of woman. They are sexually in control, in that they have “boy toys” (l. 123), and female artists like Lady Gaga and Beyoncé are taking over the superstar scene, not afraid to show their “sheer, ruthless power” (l. 144).

To judge from Rosin’s article, we are facing a new era in human society, namely one where women make up the dominant force in a number of crucial areas. Following Rosin, the sex roles are likely to change. We will probably see women take over the vast majority of top influential positions, such as presidencies and company CEOs. In terms of politics, women will lead the way, which could mean an increasing focus on welfare issues, education and dialogue across borders. In turn, men will need to try to adapt to the new order of things by hiding their urge for a ‘macho style of life’, and instead improve ‘softer’ skills like communication and care. In my view, though, things will not develop quite as radically as this.

The fact that more women than men are being educated and that women have entered the job market fully does not necessarily mean “The End of Men” as Rosin argues. The main problem with Rosin’s article is that she overlooks tendencies that point in a different direction. Postmodern society does not solely produce strong ‘alpha females’, but also a growing group of young girls struggling with eating disorder, depression and performance anxiety. Also, the increasingly competitive atmosphere of the global society may actually be an advantage to men, who are traditionally thought to be more robust when it comes to focusing on results and maximizing production. Also, part of Rosin’s argument lies in the way she uses the language. The headline of the article states, “The End of Men”, indicating that the end of men is an unavoidable fact. Instead it might have been more reasonable to use a question mark, “The End of Men?”, indicating that the power of men may be ending. She uses seductive metaphors, for example when she depicts the U.S. economy as “a kind of traveling sisterhood” (l. 99). In connection with this, she downplays the fact that the majority of power in U.S. economy belongs to men when she, by another metaphor, states that “this feels like the last gasp of a dying age” (l. 114). So here, she makes the reader feel that the dominance of men is dying away. In this way, she seduces the reader to agree with her.

In conclusion, our postmodern time does see women gain increasing influence, mainly because of their rising level of education. But for the foreseeable future this does not mean that women will take over men’s role as the dominant sex, but merely that the power balance between the sexes is evening out. It is not “The End of Men”, as Rosin would have it, but a natural development towards equality in a society where all have equal rights and possibilities.