David Brooks Advocates the Total Wussification of American Men

Revenge of the wuss:

The gap between the male and female unemployment rates has reached its highest level since the government began keeping such records. . . .
[L]ast November nearly a fifth of all men between 25 and 54 did not have jobs, the highest figure since the labor bureau began counting in 1948. . . .
For decades, men have adapted poorly to the shifting demands of the service economy. Now they are paying the price. . . .
First, we need to redefine masculinity, creating an image that encourages teenage boys to stay in school and older men to pursue service jobs. Evangelical churches have done a lot to show how manly men can still be nurturing. Obviously, more needs to be done, and schools need to be more boy-friendly. . . .

Oh, great. You hear that, guys? If you’re out of a job, it’s your fault. But don’t worry: You’re all going to get jobs as “nuturing counselors” and Starbucks clerks.

21 comments

  1. I think that may be a little unfair.

    Refusing to redefine what being a man is does not change the fact that the world is changing around it.

    Nowadays, kids need to stay in school through college because there will be less and less successful opportunities without it.

    “Service jobs” are more than Starbucks clerks and counseling it’s being a teacher, a business owner, anything is within the realm of possibilities.

  2. I think that may be a little unfair.

    Refusing to redefine what being a man is does not change the fact that the world is changing around it.

    Nowadays, kids need to stay in school through college because there will be less and less successful opportunities without it.

    “Service jobs” are more than Starbucks clerks and counseling it’s being a teacher, a business owner, anything is within the realm of possibilities.

  3. I’m no fan of David Brooks, but I think he makes a valid point here. The age of early industrialism is over: men are no longer required to be, in large proportion, manual-labouring “tough guys.” It should be seen equally as “manly” for an man to support himself or his family as, say, a law clerk as it should for one to do so as, say, a roughneck.

    I mean, c’mon, “freelance newspaper reporter,” even if as badass as yourself, is not, by any means, a particularly classically “manly” profession…you are clearly highly educated, and you clearly took a decision to stay in school post-high-school-graduation rather than go to a vocational school or simply join the workforce.

    I think all he’s saying is that choices like your own are admirable and make you no less of a man than the individual who dropped out of school in the 11th grade to become a hardassed repo man or a steelworker.

  4. I’m no fan of David Brooks, but I think he makes a valid point here. The age of early industrialism is over: men are no longer required to be, in large proportion, manual-labouring “tough guys.” It should be seen equally as “manly” for an man to support himself or his family as, say, a law clerk as it should for one to do so as, say, a roughneck.

    I mean, c’mon, “freelance newspaper reporter,” even if as badass as yourself, is not, by any means, a particularly classically “manly” profession…you are clearly highly educated, and you clearly took a decision to stay in school post-high-school-graduation rather than go to a vocational school or simply join the workforce.

    I think all he’s saying is that choices like your own are admirable and make you no less of a man than the individual who dropped out of school in the 11th grade to become a hardassed repo man or a steelworker.

  5. The decline in male employment in white collar jobs has coincided with the ascendency of Human Resources–specifically with HR’s near total control over the hiring process.

    “Human Resources” is a chicks “profession.” In the internet age, HR has become a tyrannical gatekeeper, controlling which resumes/CV’s a hiring manager is allowed to see.

    Women control the hiring process. Should there be any surprise that many offices are becoming hen houses?

  6. The decline in male employment in white collar jobs has coincided with the ascendency of Human Resources–specifically with HR’s near total control over the hiring process.

    “Human Resources” is a chicks “profession.” In the internet age, HR has become a tyrannical gatekeeper, controlling which resumes/CV’s a hiring manager is allowed to see.

    Women control the hiring process. Should there be any surprise that many offices are becoming hen houses?

  7. Okay, I’m amused at the thought that David Brooks has been in, or even within restraining-order distance of, an evangelical church, except in passing.

  8. Okay, I’m amused at the thought that David Brooks has been in, or even within restraining-order distance of, an evangelical church, except in passing.

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