Over at DoubleX.com, Christina Hoff Sommers outlines the vast changes for American women since Betty Friedan’s 1962 classic, The Feminine Mystique. In many aspects, tables have turned:
In Friedan’s day, women were clearly the second sex. Not so today. Yes, many women are struggling with the challenge of combining family and work. But men do not have it easy either. They are increasingly less educated than women. They are bearing the brunt of the recession. The New York Times recently reported that “a full 82 percent of the job losses have befallen men.” Reuters referred to the surging male unemployment rate as a “blood bath.” Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s “FastStats” show that men are less likely than women to be insured-and more likely to drink, smoke, and be overweight. They also die six years earlier than women on average.
More here.