The idea of an end to an era of male dominance, discussed in Hanna Rossin’s article for The Atlantic, is not a new concept, but it certainly is worth investigating and watching as this shift occurs.  One particular matter that I would like to explore further that Rossin addresses is the idea of women as a threat.  Inherent in all of these changes occurring in social structure are both positive and negative reactions.  There are the extremes where men’s rights groups have become even more anti-woman, and, on the opposite end, where some radical feminists think they should and will take over the world.  However, when has an extremist perception of any concept ever had a positive impact on the world? I can’t seem to think of any examples. These two extremes in particular portray some men choosing to view women as a threat and some women choosing to take on the role of a threat.  What these two groups fail to see is the benefits of women becoming active contributors to the economy, politics, and world in a way that is symbiotic to male contributions.  A business or government has a greater potential for success if it takes advantage of the differences in skills and strengths between men and women.

For the past few decades, women from a multitude of countries have been fighting for equality in the political realm.  As Rossin pointed out, some nations saw female participation so necessary to the success of their country that they instituted political quotas to enforce women’s presence in the government, echoing affirmative action.  Feminist women of France, for example, fought since the 80’s to introduce the principle of “Parité” to their National Assembly as a law, which would establish quotas to encourage and help women become more active in the French government.  Those in opposition to “Parité” view this help as a threat to men, however, unless this unrealistically gets to an extreme where women have taken over the National Assembly and prevent men from contributing, it should be seen as a step toward men and women mutually profiting from each others’ strengths.  Now that the number of women working in the government and economy in the world really has grown, the world is gradually starting to see the same type of affirmative action toward boys, where schools are even making efforts to accommodate the skills and personalities associated with boys, as well as encourage male enrollment in college and activities that now have a larger female population.

With that said, no, women are not a threat to men, nor should women choose to act as a threat to men.  It is clear that this new era is not about “the end of men,” rather it is about the beginning of a symbiosis between men and women, and a new appreciation for certain skills that are more common in women but can be especially beneficial when merged with the strengths of men.