Hanna Rosin on Gender in the New Economy

Hanna Rosin, whose much-anticipated book on modern gender roles is about to appear, had another fine piece, this in The New York Times Magazine.

Here she looks at the changing roles of women and men in a small, conservative town in Alabama.  As in so many other places in the U.S., good-paying jobs for men have been disappearing, and their wives are earning a greater and greater share of the family income--this in a place where men are generally understood to be the head of the house.

Rosin does a fine job of pointing out that some of the wounds suffered by men are self-inflicted, as they are reluctant to train for and fill jobs that appear feminine.  But it precisely these jobs--some of which pay quite well, such as health administration or nursing--that are proliferating as high-paying manufacturing jobs dry up.

Traditional ideas about men's roles (and, I would argue, male privilege) are keeping men from being able to jump into the new economy.  As women's economic power grows, much of the rationale for male privilege should be crumbling.