...billions of men worldwide, not just a few discredited bankers, will increasingly lose out in the new world taking shape from the current economic wreckage. As women start to gain more of the social, economic, and political power they have long been denied, it will be nothing less than a full-scale revolution the likes of which human civilization has never experienced.

This is not to say that women and men will fight each other across armed barricades. The conflict will take a subtler form, and the main battlefield will be hearts and minds. But make no mistake: The axis of global conflict in this century will not be warring ideologies, or competing geopolitics, or clashing civilizations. It won’t be race or ethnicity. It will be gender. We have no precedent for a world after the death of macho. But we can expect the transition to be wrenching, uneven, and possibly very violent.

Click to expand...

Real gender equality, entailing a meaningful sharing of power within society, may thus be a prerequisite for optimal and rational policymaking, whether for households, countries, or the international community. The booms may not be as explosive, but then again, the busts may not be either.

It used to be said that behind every great man is a great woman. Maybe the scoundrels, hooligans, Genghis Khans, derivatives traders, and debt-securitizers could use a few great women, too—for the sake of the rest of us, if nothing else.

Click to expand...

Radninja said:

Not for ADHD inclined, but very interesting read: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/art/2009/06/18/the_death_of_macho/



There's a related article as well, written by a woman: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/06/19/good_riddance?page=0,0

She reaches a suprising conclusion:

Discuss.

Click to expand...

The era of male dominance is coming to an end.

Click to expand...

Luthor Rex said:

I would like to propose that there is more than one kind of "macho" man out there.

You have the ego fueled men who's self confidence comes from external achievements such as money, power, cars, houses, etc. These men puff their chests out and who's self-esteem will collapse when their empires crumble (like we've seen for some of those men on Wallstreet).

There are also the 'macho' men who are not ego fueled, but rather their self confidence comes from inner traits like courage, persistence, self-control, etc. These kinds of 'macho' men are the Stoic warriors who accept bad times as a test of their character rather than a sign of armageddon. These kinds of men are 'a man in full' and are generally ignored in the mainstream media.

I think maybe they are ignored because if they weren't then men would (goddess forbid) have actual good role models to look up to.

Click to expand...