Are men obsolete?
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.
Unfortunately for the career aspirations of those skilled in outlaw pursuits, popular demand for the fruits of their labors is negative. No surprise then that popular prophets have foretold the coming of a male glut. In his book Player Piano, Kurt Vonnegut paints a world in which computers have taken over planning, production, and much of science. War has been abolished globally, but America retains a large, if pointless, standing army. Others among the idle are enrolled in the Reconstruction and Reclamation Corps (aka the Reeks and Wrecks) and spend most of their days leaning on shovels. Everyone is very depressed. Or, if you prefer, there's the Anthony Burgess dystopia of The Wanting Seed. In this not so future world, surplus males fight endless wars against unnamed enemies--who turn out to be themselves. But then, that would never happen in America.
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