RA#3 - The Death of Macho

Reihan Salam writes a thought provoking article in “The Death of Macho”, were he argues that the balance of power in the world is shifting from men to women and although this has been happening over a long period of time, in his opinion the recent economic crisis around the world is causing the shift of power to pick up steam.  He blames this recession on the high risk behavior of “the cult of macho”.  Salam feels that this shift in the power structure is occurring for several reasons. Two of which are; more men than women have lost their jobs in this recession and women are graduating from college in greater numbers.  Salem’s exigency in writing this article is to inform both men and women of his observations so as to bring about awareness of what is occurring in the hope that perhaps both sexes can find a functional way of dealing with this new paradigm.  


Salem uses Narration as a mode  in order to get his point across, he points out that “The consequence will be not only a mortal blow to the macho men’s club called finance capitalism that got the world into the current economic catastrophe; it will be a collective crisis for millions and millions of men around the globe”(620).  So he tells us that although the finance capitalists who created the housing bubble are the reason this economic crisis exists they did not just mess things up for themselves but for a very high percentage of men on the planet who are losing their jobs during this crisis.  He goes on to explain that “the bubble actually represented an economic policy that disguised the declining prospects of blue-collar men” (631).  It seems the declining prospects were disguised because the bubble allowed the housing market to soar.   Contractors who are predominately male as a consequence had an enormous amount of work. This bubble of course did not last for long and when in popped many of the people in that sector of the economy lost their jobs. 


Salem effectively uses Cause and Effect to explain how the balance of power is shifting.   He asks us “Consider the electoral responses to this global catastrophe that are starting to take shape” (630) and then goes on to explain that when “Iceland’s economy imploded, the country’s voters did what no country has done before: Not only did they throw out the all-male elite who oversaw the making of the crisis, they named the world’s first openly lesbian leader as their prime minister” (630). He also mentions that the small country of Lithuania did a very similar thing in voting in a female president to fix that country’s financial woes.  So therefore as blame is being placed on these macho men who seem to get an adrenalin rush from making high risk decisions on the economy, the people are choosing to take a very different path by putting women in charge.


It is clear that Salem has many examples to prove his point; Exemplification is used as a mode in many places in this article.  As an example of women gaining more power, Salem tells us that “Already in the United States, women make up nearly half of biological and medical scientists and nearly three quarters of health-industry workers” (632).  And continues to say that even “President Barack Obama has weighed in on the shift of power” and Salem cites an article from the New York Times where the President says that “Women are just as likely to be the primary bread earner, if not more likely, than men are today” (632).  His many examples certainly give a lot of power to his assertion that the power structure is shifting from men to women.


My response:  This was a fascinating article and it speaks of a real possibility where more and more women’s voices are being heard.  However, there is no doubt that women still currently do not have equal standing to men,  but based on this article women are making major inroads into claiming the power they own and deserve.  I do not see this shift in power as positive because it might diminish men but rather to raise women up so that they are on an equal footing with men. I also do not see the decline in men’s position of power being quiet as stark as Salam’s assessment. However, women’s ideas need to be brought to the table so that both sexes can contribute equally to the discourse that affects everyone.  I do believe that when women are at the same level of power to men the ability for world peace and a more gently used planet may begin to come into view.