Female Supremacy Articles - Page 21

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All of which prompts the question: What shall we do with all the men? Clyde Prestowitz, president of the Economic Strategy Institute, was surprised when his son, a software developer, said he was considering buying a snow-removal company out west. "They can't move the snow to India," he explained. But at best that's a seasonal occupation. Sports and entertainment are other possibilities, but to make a living at them requires rare skill. Leisure is an option for those of independent means--or with productive helpmates. But women tend to excel even in non-market domains, at least at such harmless pursuits as flower arranging, shopping, and, of course, child rearing.

There remains, to be sure, one large sector in which men retain unquestioned domination: crime. In 2001, the FBI reports, men arrested for violent crime outnumbered women by roughly 5 to 1. (For murder the ratio was 7 to 1.) Even in nonviolent categories males prevailed (11 to 1 in illegal weapons possession; 5 to 1 in drunken driving). Indeed, aside from prostitution, only in the categories of fraud and embezzlement have women begun to close the gender gap. And even in these officebound areas--witness the latest round of corporate scandals--when it comes to big-time booty, the boys are still way out in front.