The Decline of Males

Males have declined into bewildered, lonely creatures since ""new and effective contraceptive technology, controlled by women"" and the ""anti-male"" discourse of feminism have led to a pervasive social shift away from ""male-centered production to female-centered reproduction."" With the advent of the Pill, men have become from the ""means of reproduction"" and the demand for abortion has risen. The ancient mammalian unit of mother and child has morphed into a ""bureaugamy,"" as single mothers find government assistance a more satisfying partner than a confused male. Or so says anthropologist Tiger (Men in Groups, etc.), who claims that only Darwinian biology can satisfactorily explain these changes and pities anyone foolish enough to believe the ""Christian Science about human behavior"" known as gender studies and sociology. This ""psychosexual weather report"" will delight those who find sociobiology convincing, but may vex readers who want more than newspaper articles offered as science (118 references to the New York Times alone). It may also be news to many women that they are ""on the way to winning"" the war between the sexes and will soon dominate the world economic system. Somewhat paradoxically, Tiger celebrates single mothers as the heroic vanguard of a new social order in the ""human zoo,"" yet proclaims that it is men who have been ""liberated"" by the women's movement. Although provocative, his arguments won't withstand much serious scrutiny from points of view outside biology that may not see humans as analogous to bats and tadpoles. Agent, Amanda Urban of ICM. (Apr.)