I've long felt that the rise of new fundamentalist and misogynist strains in every culture -- from Christian fundies in America to jihadis in the Middle East to the gangs of rapists in African civil wars, and more -- were essentially the reaction of traditional society to the rapid emergence of an increasingly feminized, increasingly global, increasingly networked economy and society. And this well-researched article from a few months ago in The Atlantic provides the economic backdrop. Yes, as the piece argues, men are having trouble adjusting to this evolutionary-scale shift -- the discomfort of middle-class Americans being the least of those difficulties (see prior reference to jihadis). But all in all, hard not to feel very encouraged.
And, in a line I never thought I'd type, thanks to David Brooks for pointing to this.
Update: A point of clarification: I don't mean to say that fundamentalism and misogyny began because of modernity -- rather, that their reinvigoration is a reaction to the threat of modernity.
2 comments:
Thank you for the post. It is certainly true that we are moving toward gender equality in the long run. But for millions of women, things will get worse before they get better (just read the comments there). That's why feminism is even more badly needed these days.
Welldone, very interesting Blog.I just recently started following your blog, but I look forward to contributing more in the future.Dubturbo
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