This is a long and lengthy analysis here written about another even longer article here. But in short it's one of the now common - "are men men anymore and are women beomcing the new men. And men are so stupid that they aren't earning degrees. How do we get men to work again? If only we knew?" etc. etc.
I will only add these two minor points that people keep failing to observe about this "death of man/mancession" phenomena;
1. PLEASE STOP WITH THE "WOMEN NOW EARN THE MAJORITY OF DEGREES" BS! They earn the majority of (sorry to say it, but it's true) worthless degrees. Yes, fine, wonderful. Masters in Communications. Masters in Social Work. Masters in Nose Picking. Yes, fine, you're all awarded degrees. Warm fuzzies for everyone! We're all winners!!!! Wow, can I get a degree in "Women's Studies?" Oh, no, wait, my brain would explode from the mundacity and idiocy of earning such a worthless degree because you're not learning anything nor will it serve you in searching for employment. Matter of fact all it will do is saddle some poor women with college debt with no increasing prospects for employment in the future.
Men still outrank women 4-1 in engineering and the sciences. Degrees that actually matter and have a practical application outside academia. Please stop with the "women out earning degrees" stuff unless you're going to talk about degree that translate into increased earnings and job prospects.
2. As the economy shifts from a private sector, capitalist based system to a public sector, socialist based system, of course women are going to become more prominent and higher earning than men. They major in the corresponding fields for government work. And given how the country keeps voting in more government spending and veritable socialists, it's going to continue to be a booming industry for women. Ironically, what's great about this is as the goverment grows and crowds out the private sector, it will be more common to see the "mechanic husband" with his highly paid wife who works at the social services department at the state making $80,000 and a pension that dwarfs his non-existent one. THat may sound "bad" for the once glorious male, but to quote Steve Martin from Dirty Rotten Scoundrels;
"I say it's time for a change. I say let them take care of us for a while!"
In the end, though ultimately, the economy will have to return to men or at least "manly" things because society cannot live off of an economy where everybody is a social worker or an elementary school teacher. People still want food, clothing, shelter, cars, Ipods, computers and electronics and protection. Gee, I wonder who specializes in the production of those things?
In the meantime, you know what to do;
Enjoy the decline, gentlemen. Enjoy that decline!
"Gee, I wonder who specializes in the production of those things?"
ReplyDeleteThe chinese, we're screwed.
Hope you like agriculture, it's about the only thing we are still competitive in.
Oilfield workers are mostly male, and they do traditional masculine jobs - jobs which require strength, courage, and intelligence. And they are well paid - well over $150,000 for a marine engineer.
ReplyDeleteThe important, difficult jobs will continue to be done by men, as they always have been; and, mostly, they will be well paid.
John, the problem with the oilfield jobs is that they are not conducive to having a family; I know because I have worked up north, divorce rates are horrendous for those who spend much time doing it; but, they are real men's jobs (and best suited for young single men or older divorced men that must support 'her').
ReplyDeleteOn engineering, I was talking to my friend at the weekend (he works at a coal mine in Alberta), and he said that 90% of the mining/environmental engineers that come to visit the site are 20something females from Vancouver who have never stepped on a mud puddle or driven an unpaved road. This does not surprise me, as my experience at Canadian academia was that if you are female and studying engineering or science it is virtually impossible not to win an award, and almost a certainty that you will be employed by one of the big companies (AMEC, SRK, Teck, INCO, etc.), whilst us poor males work at the gulag (i.e. small and micro non-descript companies).
I guess us males are left with the high risk jobs (pipe welder, driller, etc.) or the ones no females want (non-descript technical guy earning about as much as the secretary).
"mundacity"
ReplyDeleteI actually laughed out loud at that one - a perfect portmanteau of "mundanity" and "mendacity". I shall begin using it immediately.
Monsignor Spaniard, I did a chemical engineering degree in my callow youth. Of all the engineering disciplines, it had the highest female-male ratio - nearly 40% - and it also had the lowest high school entry grade requirements. This was not a coincidence.
I would estimate that approximately half of the feamle students in my class were there because they'd received a full-ride first year scholarship simply for being female. One of my best friends was a below-the-poverty line son of a single mom putting himself through university on his own dime because he'd turned down a full-ride four-year scholarship at a lesser engineering school (he went on to graduate top of the class, too)
By second year, all but three of the free-riding women had flunked or transferred out. Of those three, *one* graduated at the end of the program. The other dozen or so were just wasting time, seats, and scholarship money.
This seems to be another sign of an affluent society, becoming weak and lazy. The USA used to be the world`s source of production. Men actually produced tangible products, that were sold all over the world. Now America imports most of her tangible products from China. Civil servants currently earn more then people in the private sector.
ReplyDeleteThis gender issue just seems to be another aspect, of a society in decline.
I am not going to say exactly on what science field I work, but a few years ago the m/f was 5/5, now it is more like 3/7.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was at Academia (in a shall-remain-unnamed province) I had to tame the 7-headed hydra, steal the golden fleece and crap bricks in order to have someone even look at my research; I never won an award (despite pretty good grades).
However, it was my impression that it was impossible for C+ and above female students to not win a prize and/or award. I do not know of one single female that graduated from our X science program at Y university that did not obtain employment at a desirable & well known company or the government; I have yet to obtain my first ever interview for a government paid position.
Meanwhile, my job in Canada is being outsourced abroad (plenty of countries where engineers/scientists are 10 a dime) and during the twilight of my present position I continue sharing the elevator ride and train commute with a bunch of mostly female and <40 accountants and executives.
Meanwhile, my industry wonders where all the young people are and why the turnover is high; I am happy to provide two explanations: 1) men and women want to be accountants/lawyers/WAGS, 2) you keep employing females who then go on maternity leave (or abandon the profession altogether)
i gotta back the chinese statements. the world is missing a lot of women. this is the market trying to compensate. it's like real estate prices going up near a good public school. the houses aren't any better, they might be worse, but you still pay more
ReplyDeleteAgriculture is about all men have left.
ReplyDeleteThanks to taxes and regulation, starting a small business is just about impossible, and even if you succeed you're not going to enjoy the fruits of your labor.
w/o small businesses, only existing businesses, mostly in bed with the government, can succeed. These large international corporations, like public factory schools, feminize men. But feminized men are just bad versions of the real thing. Women succeed, the men are marginalized, and society declines.
Bleep.
Fortunately, there is plenty of land available in flyover land where men can grow some food, work the land and insulate themselves from a world that hates them.
Get that land soon, before Obama nationalizes it.
I thought you might enjoy this bit from an essay by the British author Theodore Dalrymple. The article concerns the topic of resentment, but this section speaks to your observations on women in university.
ReplyDelete"But another cause of resentment, I feel sure (though I cannot prove, again because of the deficiencies of character bequeathed me by my parents) is the spread of tertiary education, especially in such subjects as sociology, psychology, and anything to which the word ‘studies’ may be attached. Indeed, it seems to me that they might all usefully be joined in one great faculty, to be called the Faculty of Resentment Studies. It would undoubtedly be the largest faculty in any self-respecting university, and would easily pay for itself. Professors of Resentment could teach such subdivisions of their subject as the art of rationalisation, rhetorical exaggeration, preservation of a lack of perspective, suppression of a sense of irony or humour, and so on and so forth. Of course, entry requirements would be minimal. All you would have to do to gain entry is to denigrate your parents at a public examination, and there could hardly be found a child nowadays not able to do that.
Over the entrance to the faculty will be written not the motto of the Academy, ‘Know thyself,’ but rather ‘Talk about thyself,’ ‘Reveal nothing,’ ‘Remember that there is always someone better off than you’ and, above all, ‘Distinguish not between unfairness and injustice.’
What of the graduates of this institution? What happens to them afterwards? The best is for them to sink into outright unemployment; but if they find a job, it should be well below their capacities which, of course, it will be if they have studied diligently. They will then be safely launched on a career of joyful, or perhaps I should say satisfying, misery."
Ever see the movie "The Box"?
ReplyDeleteDid anyone notice only the women ever pushed the button?
Another point to note is that it is very difficult to fire a woman that is not competent at their job because they are a minority and are protected - doubly so if the woman is a person of color.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said:
ReplyDelete"The USA used to be the world`s source of production. Men actually produced tangible products, that were sold all over the world. Now America imports most of her tangible products from China."
The legal hoops you have to jump through to start and maintain a business help make Chinese products cheaper than American products. In case you haven't seen the Institute For Justice clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQscE3Xed64
Somewhat off-topic, but this you-tube celebrates what WAS great about America
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiO2-R8yKjE
Guys just getting the job done, a complete absence of safety gear, and women in the workplace as near as I can tell.
Enjoy, and feel free to donate to the charity they are supporting.