Recently, the New York Times published an article on the rise of single motherhood and its correlation to the declining economic health of men. This is well-trod territory and very familiar to AVfM readers. What I’d like to highlight is the hamster-on-meth effort to portray men as subhuman utilities and trumpet female hypoagency.
Men who are less successful are less attractive as partners, so some women are choosing to raise children by themselves, in turn often producing sons who are less successful and attractive as partners…The fall of men in the workplace is widely regarded by economists as one of the nation’s most important and puzzling trends.
Could this be happening because society is deliberately holding back men and boys? (Book #1 / Book #2)
For all Americans, it has become much harder to make a living without a college degree…Women have responded exactly as economists would have predicted, by going to college in record numbers. Men, mysteriously, have not.
Mysteriously!
Most economists agree that men have suffered disproportionately from economic changes like the decline of manufacturing.
And the war declared on us by vicious ideologues and opportunistic asshats.
Professor Autor’s own explanation… The children of lower-income parents are ever more likely to become, in turn, the parents of lower-income children. Moreover, a growing share of lower-income children are raised by their mother but not their father, and research shows that those children are at a particular disadvantage.
Fair enough. This is a plausible theory.
Professor Autor said in an interview that he was intrigued by evidence suggesting the consequences were larger for boys than girls,
Tragically true. So what do we do about it?
Conservatives have long argued that society should encourage stable parental relationships…promoting marriage is the best way “to make family life more stable for children whose parents don’t enjoy the benefit of a college education.
Savvy readers know that a few exceptions aside, conservatives have happily joined liberals in making a grotesque hash out of marriage and parenthood. So maybe they should work on fixing that first, before they promote marriage. But I digress.
Liberals have tended to argue that the government should focus instead on improving economic opportunities. Jonathan Cowan, the president of Third Way…“If Democrats have as their goal being the party of the middle class, we need to ask, ‘How can we get these fathers back involved in their children’s lives?”
Oh goody! The Democrat Party, the financial and bureaucratic backbone of gender supremacy, is going to get fathers involved! This is going to be so great!
But some experts cautioned that Professor Autor’s theory did not necessarily imply that such children would benefit from the presence of their fathers.
This is misandry and bigotry against the poor. Another shining example of the tolerance of progressives.
“Single-parent families tend to emerge in places where the men already are a mess,” said Christopher Jencks, a professor of social policy at Harvard University. “You have to ask yourself, ‘Suppose the available men were getting married to the available women? Would that be an improvement?’”
They’re a mess! Surely, not worthy of the same parental rights of their female counterparts. And note the female hypoagency. She didn’t choose to bring a child to term in less-than-ideal conditions. She’s blameless; it’s the men who are the mess!
Instead of making marriage more attractive, he said, it might be better for society to help make men more attractive.
With society’s help, I’m sure a few of us will make great breeding stock. The majority of us will plough the fields, and those who can’t, will still be useful in the glue factory.
Guys, I know you’re really busy teleporting random sperm into the unsuspecting uteruses of unwed women. But please take a moment to note the disregard of male value except in service of the female. We’re not worthy of economic opportunity because we’re human beings potentially capable of great things. It’s only so we can man up and marry women. And if we’re not an attractive provider, then we don’t even deserve the right to play a role in the lives of our children.
Ladies, I’m sure you recognize this article doesn’t do you any favors either. You are being portrayed as a helpless vessel that has babies “happen” to it. But don’t worry, big strong government people will swoop in to coddle you.
Let’s treat men and women with respect as human beings. Let’s encourage them to be the best they can be, and take personal responsibility for their actions. Let’s value the contributions of fathers and mothers. Let’s restore a healthy male-female dynamic. Because if we don’t, no one will.