In the past few years, a growing chorus of media and social science voices has identified a social trend of profound importance – the diminishing value of men in society. On the surface, the data indicates that men are in decline. Last year, women outnumbered men in earning bachelor degrees for the first time in history.Three-quarters of the jobs lost in the recession of 2008 belonged to men. Larry Summers, formerly one of President Obama’s economic advisors, told The New York Times last May his real fear about the economy was one in five men between 25 and 54 not working, and “a reasonable projection is that it will still be one in six after the economy recovers.” TV Guide has even declared “The Emasculation of Men” one of the themes for this season’s crop of sitcoms, owing to multiple shows generally depicting male characters as boorish, weak-minded, lazy, or effeminate.
But in spite of these doom and gloom pronouncements, men still are at the top of most corporations, make up a vast majority of public officeholders, and control the preponderance of the world’s wealth. Are men truly on the cusp of losing their traditional social dominance to women?
