The End of Men

JTP sent me a link to a presentation at TED by Hanna Rosin a few days ago. The presentation was at once exciting and disheartening. As I joyfully listened to her presentation on the rise of women, I felt saddened by the trend of men being left behind. I was excited by the prospect of more and more women earning college degrees. That excitement, however, was dampened by the trend of less and less men following the same path. Fertility clinics and many cultures were once places to find only preferences for boy babies. Girls are now almost as sought after in those same locations. I am thrilled that parents are seeing the value in girls. I am equally as disturbed that we are finding our boys are not as successful in school as our girls or that a boy’s particular skill sets don’t seem well suited for our educational system.

Ms. Rosin explores these trends in a very compelling and interesting way. At the end of the presentation, I sat stunned. I still have not been able to get my head around some of the ideas. Don’t be fooled, I do not believe that the gains made by women should be reversed nor do I think that the typical man of 100 years ago was ideal. It is just that I have a son and I have a daughter. I had always been very careful to not set limits or define my daughter based on her gender. I would encourage her to be anything she wanted to be. Now, I question how I have interacted with my son. Have I encouraged him enough? Have I defined him based on his gender? In my quest to open the world to my daughter, have I over compensated and left my son behind? I think, in the end, that was my take away. I have committed myself to try and open the world to both my children, to advocate for them, to ensure they will get everything out of life they can – regardless of gender.