End of Men: And the Rise of Women
Hanna Rosin, 2012
Penguin Group USA
320 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781594488047
Summary
A landmark portrait of women, men, and power in a transformed world.
Men have been the dominant sex since, well, the dawn of mankind. But Hanna Rosin was the first to notice that this long-held truth is, astonishingly, no longer true. At this unprecedented moment, by almost every measure, women are no longer gaining on men: They have pulled decisively ahead. And “the end of men”—the title of Rosin’s Atlantic cover story on the subject—has entered the lexicon as dramatically as Betty Friedan’s “feminine mystique,” Simone de Beauvoir’s “second sex,” Susan Faludi’s “backlash,” and Naomi Wolf’s “beauty myth” once did.
In this landmark book, Rosin reveals how this new state of affairs is radically shifting the power dynamics between men and women at every level of society, with profound implications for marriage, sex, children, work, and more. With wide-ranging curiosity and insight unhampered by assumptions or ideology, Rosin shows how the radically different ways men and women today earn, learn, spend, couple up—even kill—has turned the big picture upside down. And in The End of Men she helps us see how, regardless of gender, we can adapt to the new reality and channel it for a better future. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—N/A
• Where—Israel
• Education—B.A., Stanford University
• Currently—Lives in Washington, D.C., USA
Rosin was born in Israel and grew up in Queens, where her father is a taxi driver. She graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1987, where she won a number of competitions on the debate team. She attended Stanford University, and is married to Slate editor David Plotz; they live in Washington, D.C. with their three children.
Hanna Rosin is a co-founder of DoubleX, a women's site connected to the online magazine Slate. She is also a writer for The Atlantic. She has written for the Washington Post, The New Yorker, GQ and New York after beginning her career as a staff writer for The New Republic. Rosin has also appeared on The Daily Show and The Colbert Report on Comedy Central.
A character portrayed by actress Chloë Sevigny in the movie Shattered Glass about Rosin's colleague at The New Republic, Stephen Glass, was loosely based on Rosin.
Rosin has published a book based on her 2010 Atlantic story, The End of Men. She gave a TED talk on the subject in 2010. In this work she details the emergence of women as a powerful force of the American workplace. For Rosin, this shifting economy has allowed women to use their most gendered stereotypical strengths to succeed. In the past she has specialized in writing about religious-political issues, in particular the influence of evangelical Christians on the 2004 U.S. presidential campaign. She is the author of God's Harvard: A Christian College on a Mission to Save America, published in 2007. Based on a New Yorker story, the book follows several young Christians at Patrick Henry College, a new evangelical institution that teaches its students to "shape the culture and take back the nation." Rosin's portrayals of the students are part of a larger attempt to chronicle the cultural and political history of the modern Christian right.
In 2009, she published a controversial article in The Atlantic with the provocative title "The Case Against Breast-Feeding," questioning whether current social pressures in favor of breastfeeding were appropriate, and whether the science in support of the practice was conclusive. In 2009 she was nominated for a National Magazine Award for "Boy's Life," a story about a young transgendered boy. In 2010 she won the award for her contribution to a package of stories in New York magazine about circumcision. Her stories have also been included in anthologies of Best American Magazine Writing 2009 and Best American Crime Reporting 2009.
On February 27, 2012, following the death of children's author Jan Berenstain, Rosen wrote an article critical of the Berenstain Bears series of books and said "good riddance" to the beloved children's author. After negative public reaction to her use of the phrase "good riddance," Rosen issued an apology. (From Wikipedia.)
Book Reviews
Makes us see the larger picture...this provocative book is not so much about the end of men but the end of male supremacy...The great strength of Ms. Rosin's argument is that she shows how these changes in sex, love, ambition and work have little or nothing to do with hard-wired brain differences or supposed evolutionary destiny. They occur as a result of economic patterns, the unavailability of marriageable men, and a global transformation in the nature of work.
Wall Street Journal
Ambitious and surprising....[The End of Men is] solidly researched and should interest readers who care about feminist history and how gender issues play out in the culture.... A nuanced, sensitively reported account of how cultural and economic forces are challenging traditional gender norms and behavior.
Boston Globe
Pinpoints the precise trajectory and velocity of the culture.... Rosin’s book, anchored by data and aromatized by anecdotes, concludes that women are gaining the upper hand.
Washington Post
Refreshing...Rosin's book may be the most insightful and readable cultural analysis of the year, bringing together findings from different fields to show that economic shifts and cultural pressures mean that in many ways, men are being left behind...The End of Men is buttressed by numbers, but it's a fascinating read because it transcends them... Rosin's genius was to connect these dots in ways no one else has for an unexpected portrait of our moment. The End of Men is not really about a crisis for men; it's a crisis of American opportunity.
Los Angeles Times
Especially timely.... Rosin has her finger squarely on the pulse of contemporary culture...fresh and compelling.
USA Today
Rosin is a gifted storyteller with a talent for ferreting out volumes of illustrative data, and she paints a compelling picture of the ways women are ascendant
Time
A persuasive, research-grounded argument.... The most interesting sections in The End of Men show that in the portions of the country where, through culture and money, something like equality between the sexes is being achieved, the differences between them collapse.
Esquire
Heralds the ways current economic and societal power shifts are bringing 'the age of testosterone' to a close and the consequences.
Vanity Fair
Following up on her Atlantic cover story of two summers ago, Rosin (senior editor, Atlantic; God's Harvard: A Christian College on a Mission To Save America) uses the same provocative title here to show that there has been a power shift in America, with men no longer dominant. She points to the fact that many more women are wage earners and that they are more likely than men to go to college, but she does not fully consider the additional reality that women wage earners still earn substantially less than men over a lifetime and that although they have made gains as lawyers and physicians, that is a narrow segment of American workers. The fact that women are virtually invisible among electricians, plumbers and masons, although they make up more than 96 percent of secretaries, 95 percent of childcare workers, and 88 percent of health-care aides, argues against there being a major shift in gender roles in American society as a whole, as Rosin believes. Verdict: Although Rosin thinks that all we have to do is wait to encounter a complete shift in the paradigm of gender in the United States, and although she presents many observations about progress for women, the facts on the ground make her argument unpersuasive: the end of men has been widely exaggerated. Consider this an optional purchase. —Cynthia Harrison, George Washington Univ., Washington, DC
Library Journal
Atlantic senior editor Rosin (God's Harvard: A Christian College on a Mission to Save America, 2007), co-founder of Slate's women's section, DoubleX, argues that women are more likely than men to succeed in the modern workforce. The author conducted extensive interviews with women of various backgrounds, from the Midwest to Korea. She bases her argument partly on the flexibility of women and partly on the fact that employers are beginning to value characteristics stereotypically attributed to women, such as empathy. Rosin suggests that the world may be headed toward a matriarchy. It is refreshing to find optimism in a book about the gender gap, but in some cases it seems that women haven't progressed as much as men have fallen behind. In several of the households Rosin discusses, what has made the women the main breadwinners is not just drive, but the fact that their men don't hold steady jobs. Most of those men do not completely fulfill domestic duties either, leaving the women to work both outside and inside the home. Though she later takes up the issue of splitting household duties, Rosin glosses over it early on to paint a picture of matriarchal utopia. The author covers an impressive amount of ground about women, including the professions they dominate, how they can rise to the top, and their relationship to casual sex. Particularly interesting is Rosin's examination of female violence. She shows that as women gain power, they encompass the negative traits that were once only attributed to men, therefore countering the myth that a world ruled by women would be more peaceful. A great starting point for readers interested in exploring the intersecting issues of gender, family and employment.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. In “Hearts of Steel,” Rosin depicts an extreme version of hook-up culture at an Ivy League business school. How did you feel about the women she depicts? Did you find them admirable? Off-putting? Do you view them as outliers or as trailblazers?
2. Rosin seems to agree with research showing that the hook up culture is necessary for women’s advancement. Do you? Or do you think women are getting a bad deal in their early romantic relationships?
3. If you had a daughter, what advice would you give her when she entered college?
4. If you are married, would you describe yourself as having a see-saw marriage, in which each partner gets the chance to be the main breadwinner at some point? Would you want such a marriage? What are the advantages and disadvantages for women? For men?
5. How did you feel about David Godsall, the young man in ”The See-Saw Marriage” who is resentful that his girlfriend is making more money? Do you think young men are adjusting to playing a more traditionally feminine role these days?
6. What did you think of Steven Andrews, the stay-at-home dad at the end of ”The See-Saw Marriage” chapter? Is he pulling his weight in the family?
7. In “The New American Matriarchy,” Rosin depicts the changes wrought by the decline of American manufacturing in Alexander City, Alabama. How does the image of manhood in such a place conflict with the reality? How are men and women responding to the changes? What is the effect on the younger generation coming of age in this new reality? What is lost and what is gained?
8. What did you make of the young women in ”Pharm Girls”? Do you admire the way they forge ahead? Do you think of them as feminists, even though they don’t think of themselves that way?
9. Do you think it’s true that women have more advantages in this economy than men?
10. Were you surprised that colleges were using affirmative action for white men? Do you think that such a step is warranted?
11. Why do you think women are more successful at school than men? Do you think that schools discriminate against boys?
12. The research Rosin cites in “A More Perfect Poison” suggests that the nature of female violence is changing, although the numbers of female offenders are still minuscule compared to men. Do you think women are potentially as violent as men? Why or why not?
13. In “The Top,” Rosin depicts new patterns of work in Silicon Valley, inspired to a great extent by the need to retain highly skilled women in the workforce. Do you think these patterns offer productive templates for companies everywhere? What are the advantages and disadvantages for companies? For workers?
14. Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg comments that women in high places have a duty to stay there, so that they can create better policies for other women? Do you agree?
15. What do you think of the idea Rosin presents in the conclusion, that men may become more flexible as on the world around them continues to change? Have you noticed any signs of change in the culture around you? What is the next step for “Plastic Woman”?
(Questions issued by publisher.)