In 1976, 5? percent of college shidents were male. By 1995,rnonly 44 percent were. Among black college students, only 38rnpercent are male. Wliile girls—thanks to the watering down ofrnmath and science courses—are closing the gap in algebra, geometry,rncalculus, biology, chemistry, geology, and engineering,rnboys lag well behind in their traditional areas of weakness, readingrnand writing. Of those recognized in the 1997-98 Who’srnWho Among High School Students, 65 percent were girls. ‘Thernonly kind of “attention” boys get more of than girls is referral tornthe principal, detention, suspension, and expulsion.rnSome feminists have begun to suspect that men may be tryingrnto give them the slip, “deciding to forego college entirelyrnand launch technical careers out of high school,” as liberalrnBonnie Erbe has warned in her newspaper colunrn. After fightingrnfor decades to stigmatize male professors, male students, thernmale intellectual “canon,” and fraternities (as well as malernsports, interests, campus traditions, and areas of specializationrnin general), fenrinists like Erbe now wax indignant: “We do notrnwant these schools to become pink-collar ghettos, the way clericalrnjobs have become.” An interesting choice of words: Ifrn”Woman” is synonymous with “Excellence,” why should somethingrnthat becomes predominantly associated with women bernviewed as a “ghetto,” with its unsavory and negative connotations?rnIt just does not make sense.rnFor now, says Erbe, “the only thing I would worry about. . .rnis women who go to college to, as they used to say, get [an MRSrndegree]. Those women are likely to be sorely disappointed.”rn(Nobody 1 know, you can hear her saying under her breath.rnAnd note “Those women”—like “that woman” Monica Lewinsky,rnwho attended college solely to be near the married nran shernwas trying to steal from his wife.)rnJudith Stumick of the American Council on Educahon worriesrnthat there is a “separate track for education that will primarilyrnbenefit men, which will allow them to enter the job marketrnwith higher pay at a higher salary,” leaving women at liberal-artsrncolleges to “continue on the baccalaureate track, end up debtladenrnand then wind up three or four years behind in a profession.”rnLet us hope Miz Erbe and her sisters are right. Onernwould like to think that men really have walked out on women,rnmade an end run around the feminist wedge, and escaped tornpursue career goals in some novel fashion, just as the harpiesrnfear.rnw omen can do many things—some very well, some fairlyrnwell, others poorly—including many things they didrnnot often get the opportunity to do in the past, either becausernthere were enough men to do them, or because men did notrnwant to be bothered doing them in the company of women, orrnbecause women already had their hands full with the great workrnof making a home. That women can do many things is not thernissue.rnThe issue is one of division of labor, the laborrnbeing that of reproducing a recognizably humanrnrace. One ftiing nature surely rewards isrnefficiency, and efficiency is what we shouldrnlook for when it comes to the hazardous businessrnof reproduction and survival. The Creatorrnentrusted one important, specific task to mostrnfemale mammals—that of bearing, nurturing,rnand acculturating the young—yet, by all measures,rniiiiman females in the “developed” worldrnare now doing a lousy job of it. Our childrenrnare not being reared properly, and who is supposed to raisernthem? Play Station? ‘I’he Simpsons? Our children act like streetrnpeople, they are not being taught to be civil, and who is supposedrnto teach them? Their ba.sketball coach? Our childrenrnare neglected, stressed, depressed, obese, “hyperactive,” stuffedrnwith junk food, and who is supposed to care about them? ThernGlobal Village that bombed “ethnic Albanian” children in orderrnto save them?rnEeminists always object that women should not have to bernthe ones “stuck with the kids.” They would rather see menrnstuck with t h e m – a n incredibly inefficient .system for humanity,rnthe “king of beasts.” There is, however, an example in naturernof the system that feminists seem to desire: The spotted hyenarn(Crocuta crocuta) has evolved females, complete with shamrnmasculine genitalia, of greater size and strengtii than the nrales.rnAccording to ethologist Cynthia Moss in Portraits in the Wild,rn”It is virtually impossible to tell male and fenrale hyena cubsrnapart without dissecting them.” These butch females dominaternthe elan, lead patrols of its territorial borders, feed first at a kill,rnand so on. “Even young females, not fully grown, will sometimesrnbe dominant over adidt males larger than they,” reportsrnMoss. “Therefore it is not just the females’ size that nrakes tiiemrndominant, but their whole behavior and pcrsonalit)’.”rnFemale hyenas do care for the young, however: “Around thernden the females are completely dominant and are often aggressivernto the males, not letting them near their young cubs, andrnwith good reason, as hyenas show definite cannibalistic tendencies.”rnIn fact, it has been speculated that hyena evolution tookrnthis direction as a survival mechanism due to the species trait ofrncannibalism, which is quite marked: Females and males alikernroutinely devour dead or disabled clan members, not to mentionrnforeigners.rnHormones triggered by pregnancy and lactation suppressrncannibalism, albeit temporarily, in many species in addition tornthe spotted hyena. For instance, several researchers have observedrnlionesses who suddenly “switched” from licking theirrnnewborns to eating them when the protective hormonal shieldrnwas breached for some reason.rnThus, among hyenas, there is a feminist social system for usrnto observe. Should we evolve in this direction? Perhaps thisrnevolution is already happening: There must be some explanationrnfor tlic emergence of such a distinctively modern “Venus”rnas Venus Williams and such a uniquely modern “Madonna” asrnMadonna Ciccone.rnDo not misunderstand: 1 have two daughters. But my daughtersrnwill not find happiness in a world where there arc no realrnmen, only women posturing and posing as men, a world ofrn”strong women” like Hillary and Rosie and Madonna and RiotrnGrrrls and Siobhan McKenna and the rest. And more important,rnmy daughters will not find freedom in such a world. trnThe New Equalityrnby Paul LakernThe applicant secretly smiles at receiving prefermentrnAnd with sensual stabs of delight sees her rival’s defeat.rnThen proclaiming that justice requires hope’s endless deferment.rnMakes him bear both unspeakable loss and her shame at ftie cheat.rnFEBRUARY 2000/1 5rnrnrn