From XY to XX

The midterm elections will bring an unprecedented number of women to the US Congress.  This piece is related to the emergence of female empowerment.  I hope mixing humor with information will help us get over our election-induced hangover and give us some food for thought. 

From XY to XX

This post is about men and women, though mostly about women.  Now that I have your attention, let me say there is good news and bad news for men.  The good news is that we are still around.  The bad news is this may not last for long.

Researchers in Australia have found that termite colonies in Japan can thrive and reproduce without any males around.  We have known for long time that asexual reproduction is possible in plants and animals.  Some species (reptiles, bees, birds) can even alternate between sexual and asexual reproduction.  Asexual reproduction, also called parthenogenesis, occurs when the egg alone produces new off-springs.  In an interesting case of parthenogenesis, female hammerhead sharks and black-tip sharks reproduced without sex after they were kept in captivity without males.  Equally impressive is the case of a female boa constrictor which was able to asexually reproduce 22 female off-springs.

So, how long do you men out there think women will tolerate us before they turn on the parthenogenesis machine and do away with us?  (I would not trust them alone in the lab.)  Think of the benefits they will reap.  No more excuses they have a headache.  No more explaining about how many pairs of shoes they have collecting dust in the closet.  No more defending their credit card balances.  No more putting up with our sour mood because our bunch of men scored fewer points than another guy’s bunch of men when all of them make more money than we need to know.  No more coming back from a trip and finding dirty dishes in the kitchen sink instead of in the dish washer that happens to be one foot away.  Of course, they will lose too.  Who will take the garbage out?  Who will throw the ball to little Jonny?  Who will find out that the lump doesn’t work because it is unplugued?  Still, I bet our absence is going to be a net gain for women.

Under our nose, women have been preparing for this over a long time.  Look around the house.  All electrical appliances invented by men are in order to do chores women used to do with a lot more work: electric irons, dish and cloth washers, dryers, cooking stoves.  Throw in some artificial intelligence and women will have nothing to do but sit back and sip their martinis.

But lest you think they are slackers, here is what else they are doing.  They are getting educated.  More than men are.  In recent years, a greater percentage of US high school female students have been enrolling to college than boys.  As of 2015, a higher percentage of 25 to 29- year olds with a college degree were women than men.  And, pay attention to this: twice as many bachelor degrees were earned by women (57.3%) than men (25.6%) in 2016!  (The source didn’t say who got the rest!)

The results of this rapid educational advancement by women are already manifesting themselves and will have even more far-reaching consequences in the future.  Despite persisting bias in entering and advancing in certain professions, more young women are becoming better qualified than men to enter well-paying fields.  Less educated American young men do not lose good jobs only to outsourcing.  They also lose them to their fellow American women!  Young women have greater difficulty to find men with appropriate professional qualifications and education.  For this, and other career-related reasons, young women postpone marriage and child bearing to a later stage of their life than in past times.  This has already produced very low birth rates in industrialized countries.

These trends are noticed globally.  In my old place of work, the Zarb Business School, there is practically a gender parity among the many Chinese students that arrive each year.  Chinese parents are heavily investing in their daughters’ education in order to give them financial security and overall independence.  As I noted in an earlier post, years in school are almost equal for boys and girls around the world.

More and better educated women will be able to utilize knowledge and information to more successfully navigate the fast-changing world we are living in, including global competition for jobs.  They will also be more open and receptive to foreign cultures than their more parochial male peers.  This could create tensions that we are already witnessing in this country when it comes to the political choices women, especially educated ones, make compared to men.

Eventually, greater education and professional advancement will be translated into political power.  Today, as I write this piece, we know that an unprecedented number of women will enter the halls of Congress as a result of the midterm elections.  More women will most likely do so in the future.  Women have seen the challenge to their status and self-actualization and have rightly channeled their indignation to political action with confidence and purpose.  We should expect a different kind of political style and practice in all levels of government when female presence increases to a critical mass.  Men should start getting used to the idea that the long period of patriarchy* that began with the introduction of agriculture and property may finally come to an end.

Despite the fact women are half of the human population, in most places they have been denied their fair share of participation in all human activities.  Their emergence as co-equal will lead to a new social, cultural, economic and political order.

* Biological explanations are part of the theories that try to explain patriarchy and might, therefore, stymie female advancement outside traditional roles. Nonetheless, we should not ignore that, notwithstanding the power of nature, humans have been able to “hack” nature and divert it to their goals.  For example, contraceptives regulate reproduction; medications moderate mental illnesses and mood disorders, and so it goes with other human intervention with nature.  Therefore, it is unlikely that biological forces alone will stop women from gaining the status they wish for themselves.

Author: George Papaioannou

Distinguished Professor Emeritus (Finance), Hofstra University, USA. Author of Underwriting and the New Issues Market. Former Vice Dean, Zarb School of Business, Hofstra University. Board Director, Jovia Financial Federal Credit Union. View all posts by George Papaioannou