THE BAFFLE OF THE SEXES
One way of looking at the division of the sexes is in terms of virtues. Some virtues are considered more typical of women, others of men. But actually both sexes should participate and cultivate all virtues, perhaps to varying degrees. It probably is not healthy to structure lives which exclude competence in certain virtues because such things are the realm of the other sex
I remember back in the 50s a friend told me of an article entitled “The Feminization of America.” I’m not sure I even read it, but we, two young men, were well aware of a trend in society to design products and shape the culture so as to cater to women, as it was understood that they had the spending power.
They also ended up with most of the parenting power. They knew how to bring up girls, of course, but maybe not so much about bringing up boys. So adult men have emerged who are girls once removed. They are not happy with themselves, and their wives aren’t happy with them either.
I did a blog one time on how children are reared along two tracks in families, raising the likelihood that the sexes will have trouble understanding and relating to one another later. Society reinforces the split, cultivating disparate ways of thinking and adversarial ways of approaching issues.Thus, marriages based on ‘chemistry’ and unrealistic expectations flounder at an alarming rate as soon as the demands of ordinary life make themselves felt in an atmosphere where understanding and mutuality are rather foreign to the mentalities.
