The Beginning of Women's Literature: The End of Men

Hi my name is Chloe. I set up this blog to share my thoughts and opinions on the texts that I am going to be reading in my women's literature class at school. I signed up for the class because I had heard that many people (both boys and girls) enjoyed it. That's why I was slightly surprised when we received our first assignment - to read an article published in 2010 titled "The End of Men." To begin, I thought the title misrepresented the struggle for women's equality. Rather than focusing on female success, it tried to elevate women by denigrating men. Throughout the article, the author Hanna Rosin was focused more on the failure of men than on the progress women have made in the recent decades. She pays a lot of attention to the current role reversal taking place amongst families and portrays it as a bad thing for males. At one point she even refers to men who don't work as having a "condition," making it sound like some sort of illness one should avoid. She is doing exactly what she faults men for doing; associating the head of the household with being the one to bring home the larger salary. 

Rosin tends to base her bold statements off of weak evidence. She says females are dominating professional careers and goes on to say that women make up a third of America’s physicians and 45% of associates in law firms. When I heard the word dominating I assumed that women would be the majority, but she cited statistics showing that they didn’t even make up half the profession. She also contradicts herself when she says that the number of women in the workforce is prominent and rising quickly, but then goes on to say that only 3% of Fortune 500 CEO’s are women and that percent has never really changed.

We read a second article that countered Rosin’s, titled “It’s Not the End of Men.” I agree with the author Ann Friedman when she says that Rosin perpetuates the “narrow, toxic definition of masculinity.” By doing so I think Rosin is prolonging the idea that gender implies job capability, an idea that most feminists tend to refute. Rosin positions herself as a feminist, but her argument is unclear as she consistently contradicts herself.

I enjoyed reading and critiquing both of these articles because it was interesting to see varying viewpoints. I’m eager to read more from female authors and to encounter different arguments within the feminist movement.