Alpha (fe)male: part one

Hanna Rosin, the brilliant columnist for Slate Magazine, has a really interesting piece on the end of male dominance in the United States. Without using misleading statistics, Rosin uses a variety of interesting points to affirm her view that women have surpassed men in several areas. Here were some interesting things I pulled out of the article:

A) Sons are preferred over daughters? Nope, according to research by biologist Ronald Ericson at fertility clinics, girls are requested more so than boys. Under the new drug, MicroSort, currently being reviewed by the FDA, 75% of their requests are for girls.

B) According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are now more female supervisors than male supervisors. 51.4% of managers in the United States are female.

C) According to the Department of Education, two out of every three bachelor's degrees being awarded in 2010 will be given to women. Six out of ten master's degrees will be earned by women.

D) Of the eight million people laid off last year, those who were let go were overwhelmingly male in overwhelmingly male dominated fields - finance, construction, et cetera.

There are many other gems, but I think you get it. This article was quite interesting me; as I re-read the article, I began to agree more and more with Ms. Rosin. She is not taking the Maureen Dowd tongue in cheek take of two years ago suggesting that there is no place for men, she is simply saying that the playing field is equal and in many cases, advantage women. This makes me wonder if archaic affirmative action and Title IX laws are really necessary. One point Rosin has is that women have decided it is okay to go into "macho" fields (engineering, banking, et cetera) with minimal negative feedback but men refuse to go into traditional female roles - nursing, teaching, secretarial, et cetera. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are now more females working in banking, insurance, and accounting than men. Nearly half of all American attorneys are female and a little over a third of doctors are women. However, half of all 2010 medical, MBA and law degrees will be awarded to women.