The dudes of the manosphere are concerned, deeply concerned, about the fate of young women today who won’t have the opportunity to marry dudes richer and better educated than they are, as they are apparently hard-wired by evolution to do. Turns out when women start investing in good educations and getting good jobs, some of them end up making more than most dudes! Clearly, this portends disaster, for these young ladies, and for civilization itself.
On his Alpha Game blog, reactionary racist doucheblogger Vox Day has a puckish solution to the Hypergamy Crisis: we should just eject a good chunk of women from our universities – as 36 of Iran’s universities have recently announced they will do, starting in the coming academic year, by making 77 different fields of study male only.
Vox explains his, er, logic:
[T]he Iranian action presents a potentially effective means of solving the hypergamy problem presently beginning to affect college-educated women in the West. Only one-third of women in college today can reasonably expect to marry a man who is as well-educated as they are. History and present marital trends indicate that most of the remaining two-thirds will not marry rather than marry down. So, by refusing to permit women to pursue higher education, Iran is ensuring that the genes of two-thirds of its most genetically gifted women will survive in its gene pool.
Well, that’s one … way of looking at it.
No doubt the Iranian approach will sound abhorrent to many men and women alike. But consider it from a macro perspective. The USA is in well along the process of removing most of its prime female genetics from its gene pool as surely as if it took those women out and shot them before they reached breeding age. Which society’s future would you bet on, the one that is systematically eliminating the genes of its best and brightest women or the one that is intent upon retaining them?
Let’s just say I’m going to bet on the one that respects and utilizes the talents of all of its people, instead of treating half the population as little more than egg repositories and baby-making machines.
This isn’t the first time dear Vox has addressed the dangers of allowing women into college. See here for some comments from him that are a good deal worse than the ones I quoted here. (TW: Violence against women.)
@howard
Also, maybe 90% of arguments that Third World births are going to destroy the world are directly made to shrug off any responsibility the First World has onto the global poor.
It’s kind of like states’ rights arguments. I’m not a legal scholar, it’s possible that there are non-racist arguments to be made in favor of states’ rights. But it is a line of thinking that has been so wholly and viciously co-opted by racists that there is no longer a non-racist way to use it.
@howardbann1ster – it was Tarkin, not Vader. “The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers.”
(No I absolutely did not know that completely from memory. Nope. Not me.)
Thank you Howard. That’s a very good summary of my thoughts.
By the way, africans are using and developing their own solutions in water and farming. They are somewhat impeded by lack of reasources but :
Zeer pots for food storage
Square foot gardening
Rain chains and other methods of reclaiming water
Replanting forested areas
Solar stills
Solar cookers
Etc.
@Howard Bannister: I was trying to find the article online, but no luck… Anyway, some years ago there was an article in our morning paper where some researcher argued that WE, here in the west that is, should abstain from children for the sake of the environment. That everything else you can do to be environmental-friendly, like driving a hybrid or even doing without a car, eating vegetarian, using renewable energy sources as much as you can etc pales in comparison with abstaining from children, since every single extra child born here in the west puts such a TREMENDOUS strain on the environment.
To be really cynical, it would be better for the environment if no one here had any children at all, and we solved the problem of who’s gonna take care of us in our old age and keep the economy going in general by just opening the gates completely for third world immigrants. Sure, once they’re here they’re gonna consume the way we do, but at least they spent the first part of their lives in poorer places where people have way smaller ecological foot prints (no, I’m not seriously advocating this, and I know it wouldn’t be a long-term solution anyway).
Even if the whole hypergamey theory weren’t totally bogus, they apparently don’t know that a lot of men can still make more money than women with less education because a lot of typically coded “male” jobs pay more than typically coded “female” jobs that require a college education and often a master’s degree as well.
I have a master’s degree. My boyfriend has a college education. He makes a pretty good amount more money than I do, and probably always will, even if I can finally find something in my field and work my way up to getting paid what the little charts my school advertised told me I should be getting paid with my degree. A lot of my friends who are married or committed are in pretty much the same boat. One could argue (stupidly) that this is “proof” that women are hypergamey, or, you know, you could realize that this is a result of typically coded “female” jobs paying less.
I do also know a good many couples as well where the woman makes more than the man and both parties are totes ok with this. Defies science! /sarcasm
For those with a continuing interest in population and resources, there’s no-one better than Hans Rosling. The man who can make statistics and economics dance.
http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_religions_and_babies.html
If you like that one, you should try out my all time favourite, the Magic Washing Machine. http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_and_the_magic_washing_machine.html
@drst: I hereby surrender my geek badge to you. Take it. It’s yours. It longs for a geekier soul than mine… it needs it. TO nourish the badge. (sob!)
@Dvärghundspossen – Right now I’d settle completely for just having a clear majority of people in the country I live in admit that there is a problem, rather than blithely assuring me that God will take care of it. Actually doing something seems… well… like a wonderful and lovely dream.
…..
@Ugh and Howard
You’re making broadly the same points so I’ll answer you both.
The point I’m making is not that Africa’s growing population is the big threat the world as a whole but that Africa’s growing population is a big threat to Africa.
The people who suffer most because of Africa’s population growth are African’s.
I’m not trying to say that more children being born in Africa are a bigger threat to the worlds sustainability than say, the amount of waste produced by Developed nations but it is a problem, and it mainly a problem for the people living there
If you care about the future of Africa and want to see it develop and it’s population ensured a decent standard of living, particularly it’s women, then taking an interest in things that will help reduce the birth rate is something that has to be looked at.
It’s important both for the sake of the health of women and children and women’s equality but also to allow Africa to develop economically in a sustainable way and to allow them to make the best use of their natural resources and to ensure that there are no more food shortages and that the environment is not degraded.
And also, as I have said, population growth in Africa does have an impact beyond the continent, for one, the impact on global weather patterns of the spread of the Sahara and also the impact of the shrinking African rainforests, both from a climate perspective and also from a conservation aspect. These can’t be ignored either, because they are important.
So please don’t label my concerns racist because I care about this.
I guess that explains the dismal sales of 50 Shades then. Too bad no one warned E. L. James that her work couldn’t possibly have any broad appeal.
Wow. Where do I even start unpacking all the stupid assumptions in the above post?
Yawn. (FYI, there are 156 million women in the United States alone)
First world problems people arguing.
People have an opinion on how to solve third world problems. Step one: Help when asked by individuals but for the most part stay out of their lives.
I was mocked for saying that the poverty I see in Canada is worse then I see in Nicaragua yet the posters here seem to think Africa is a friggen country. It’s not and it’s not all joined to dessert, some African countries are doing quite well thank you without your do-gooder who can be politically more correct mindset.
If all you know about the world is what you’ve seen on t.v then you need to get out of your house.
Reasons why I believe people living in Nicaragua in poverty (2nd poorest country in the western hemisphere) are better off all around then people in poverty living in Canada in general.
– They feel sorry for ex-pats. Family is everything culturally and they have no idea why us gringos would leave ours behind. You can expect you neighbor Nica family to adopt you for these reasons.
– Linked onto that I’ve never really experienced envy. I’m not saying that it doesn’t exist and that people who live on the Pacific coast by the stupid million dollar beach homes might feel envious maybe but from what my neighbors have said they consider them idiots who could have there properties confiscated at any time.
– I’m just going to stick with that. Lots of other reasons like in general not buying the big screen t.v instead of feeding your family, from my experience just enjoying life etc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Planet_Index
The mras/feminists or the right wing vs the left wing are becoming more and more ridiculous. Just live your lives and stop telling others how to live yours.
Kavette, while your point about developed western nations people arguing about what best for developing nations is spot on, your “you stupid white people buy tVs while the kids go hungry” is not.
There are a variety of reasons that Nica people are happier in certain respects to Americans. So what? It doesn’t change your just so stories or the fact that what you often say directly feeds into paternalistic ideas here.
@ Historophilia
I’m sorry to have to break this to you…but your mother does not actually exist. She is a mere anecdote published by Ms. Magazine to give hope to aging career women. LOL
@Fembot
Oh damn I’d better go tell her then 😛
Reminds me of the Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy quote:
“The argument goes something like this: ‘I refuse to prove that I exist,’ says God, ‘for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing.’
“‘But,’ says Man, ‘the Babel fish is a dead giveaway, isn’t it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don’t. QED.’
“‘Oh dear,’ says God, ‘I hadn’t thought of that,’ and promptly vanishes in a puff of logic.
“‘Oh, that was easy,’ says Man, and for an encore goes on to prove that black is white and gets himself killed on the next pedestrian crossing.
“Linked onto that I’ve never really experienced envy. I’m not saying that it doesn’t exist and that people who live on the Pacific coast by the stupid million dollar beach homes might feel envious maybe but from what my neighbors have said they consider them idiots who could have there properties confiscated at any time.”
Say what?
@Kavette:
Warning: Humorous typo quibble. (at least, it was funny to ME)
I’m darned well tell you how to live my life if you keep living my life, darnit!!
/silly
This is terribly important. Thank you for saying it.
I guess that explains the dismal sales of 50 Shades then. Too bad no one warned E. L. James that her work couldn’t possibly have any broad appeal.
If we’re going by book sales then Harry Potter would be the alpha-est of all the alphas. Which makes sense, I guess. Must be that eleven inch wand 😉
Restrains urge to make “a wizard’s staff has a knob on the end” jokes.
Stupid blockquotes!
Isn’t Fifty Shades of Grey a work of fiction? Presumably dom fiction by the meme. Why are MRA’s acting like it’s some sort of operating manual for dudes when it is fantasy. There isn’t anything particularly new about it, either- there is all sorts of dom sex fiction out there for women- I suppose this just happens to be clean enough for the front shelf at Coles? Like Ann Rice’s Erotica once was? There is nothing confusing about this, dudes- some women (apparently a lot) enjoy reading dominance sexual fantasy in the safety of their own homes and absolutely never enacting it. Your appropriate response to this? Absolutely none. It is none of your business what gets certain women off- no one is being exploited here, no one is getting hurt. If your sexual partner is into that sort of thing, great! If you want to bring it up with her, awesome! But by and large fantasy is just that, and it really has absolutely nothing to do with you.
@timetravellingfool
They claim that the popularity of the series is proof that ALL WOMEN want to be dominated and treated like shit. But again, there are 156 million women in America alone. Only a fraction of women have even read the piece of shit.
And only a fraction of those who read it actually liked it.
Global sales of 50 Shades of Grey are 40,000,000. Total global population of women: 3,386,509,865. Even assuming only women are purchasing the novel (probably not true), and that they all LOVED it, that’s like 1% of women. (Check my math.)
More importantly, I just saw the Space Shuttle Endeavour fly over Los Angeles. That was cool.