"The End of Men" by Hanna Rosin

"The End of Men" is an essay in The Atlantic, published in August 2010. Rosin begins with the topic of sperm selection, or the choosing of gender of a baby. She points out that in the past, boys have been the most popular choice for parents. But now, this is beginning to change, and parents are requesting more for girls than boys. Rosin quotes a woman from "Cookie" magazine, "Women of our generation want daughter precisely because we like who we are," (3). She uses this to lead into her argument, that "the modern, postindustrial economy is simply more congenial to women than to men," (4). But one thing that I find annoying about this article, is that Rosin never factors in other things that may have an effect on this issue. She talks about in the recession, the worst hit industries were the "manly" ones, such as construction. But construction is always hit hard in an economic panic because there is less money going into real estate, and therefore less demand for construction. She also discusses how "The range of acceptable masculine roles has changed comparatively little, and has perhaps even narrowed as men have shied away from some careers women have entered," (6). I feel that men need to have this macho exterior at all times, and if they do anything that is somewhat feminine, they are portrayed as not being a man. But it shouldn't be that way. If women can conquer the manly world of business, and enter the workforce, then why can't men enter into the nurturing professions that are known as being feminine? One thing I found interesting and puzzling about this article was the fact that Rosin stated all of these statistics about women improving their economic positions, but that "only 3 percent of 'Fortune 500' CEOs are women," (7). To me that is astonishing. But I feel that it has taken women this long throughout history to achieve this much, and achieving an equal basis at the highest economic level is going to be a huge step, one that will take a lot of time. Most men don't even get that far in life, so I feel that it shouldn't be a pressing matter at this time, and it will come one day. The main thing that annoyed me about this article was the fact that Rosin made it seem that when choosing between being a housewife or a working woman, the workforce was better. She never addresses the joys of being a mother, or taking care of your family. Instead, she almost makes it seem as a set back in women's lives, and that women can't achieve anything when they stay at home. But in my opinion, the role of a woman in a home is just as important. She raises the future generation, and without her, we would have gone nowhere in history. In general, I found this article to raise some interesting points and statistics about women, but I found that  Rosin talked about the extremes on both ends, and never really the middle ground. In addition, some of her statements were huge generalizations and her justifications didn't include all factors.