Add Men to the Endangered Species List

0 Comments | Insight on the News, April 17, 2000 | by Stephen Goode

"Creativity, not sex, is the way to fulfillment for men," declared a flier for the people received recently for a new book called The Quest for Maleness. "Men are having a rough time today," it continued. "For the first time in history they are coming in second -- at school, at work, at home. While women have been waking up, men have gone to sleep. No longer adventurous and creative, they are giving up and emasculating themselves."

That was news to this column, which has distinct memories of women coming in first long ago at school, at work and at home. Still, for the people read on, wondering what solutions this book -- authored by Theun Mares, an unfamiliar name -- offered to deal with the crisis.

"Accept that you were born a man, with a different role to women." Yes, of course.

"Accept that women, although different, are equal." Okay.

"Absorb the female fully into your world, instead of resenting and treating her as mother."

Oops! For the people had no idea what that meant and so stopped paying attention to the other "solutions" to the "crisis in maleness" and jumped to the flier's equally perplexing conclusion: "The essence of maleness lies not in business, sport, money, fame or sex," but "in the roots of male creativity."

Good heavens! Aren't those the very areas where males have proved most creative -- and what, pray tell, is wrong with that?