THE DECLINE AND FALL OF BOYS.
by Bob Ramsay
Millions of girls were once aborted for being girls. But now, the stunning decline in having boys reflects their sharp fall in value to their families, their economies and the world.
Last week, The Economist reported on this sudden reversal of fortune.
“Globally, among babies born in 2000, a staggering 1.6 million girls were missing from the number you would expect, given the natural sex ratio at birth. This year that number is likely to be 200,000—and it is still falling.”
So was having boys just a fad? A centuries-old one, yes. Boys grew into men who became breadwinners who could look after their aging parents. Men have always mattered more, especially in China, certainly until 2015. That year it was forced to rescind its one-child (read “one-boy”) policy, once it realized the country’s population was falling quickly. The result was that millions of males became ‘bare branches’, doomed to lifelong bachelorhood. Not to mention, ”…one study of six Asian countries found that warped sex ratios led to an increase of rape in all of them.”
Meanwhile, girls are becoming more valuable. In Japan, couples prefer to have girls over boys. Adopting couples will often pay more for a girl. Women doing IVF and who can choose their child’s gender prefer girls. There’s no girls’ surplus yet like there was with boys in China, and that came from an act of extreme social engineering. But now that girls grow into firefighters, pilots, doctors and truck drivers, reality is forcing traditional views of male and female worth off the screen.
If you live in a rich country, things are going better generally for women -- except in the United States, of course. But if you’re a man, life is getting decidedly worse. Double- down on that if you’re a young man or a boy.
Here in Canada, simply being a man is a key risk factor in dying decades before your time. Indeed, more than two in five Canadian men (44%) will die prematurely from largely preventable causes.
Just as bad, nearly half of Canadian men between 19 and 29 are at risk of moderate to severe depression, and 57% are at risk of moderate to high anxiety.
Worst of all, Canadian boys aged 15 to 19 are four times more likely to die by suicide than teenage girls, and young men account for three-quarters of youth suicide-related death. And don’t get me started about suicide rates among First Nations and Inuit boys: they’re four times worse than for non-Indigenous boys (up to 10 times worse if you live on a reserve). Most tragically of all, for Inuit youth in some areas, suicide rates are 40 times the national average. Not four times; 40 times.
So while the rise of women and girls will indeed hold up half the sky, the fall of men and boys, especially in our own home and native land, may well bring it down around us.
Meanwhile…
1. Shockingly good. Do you want proof of how sophisticated (and how fast) AI has gotten? Read this. It reminds me of 2001.
2. Bad ideas all ‘round. The first bad idea: publishing Joan Didion’s private psychotherapy notes to her husband after she’s died. Plus Halle Berry’s Mother’s Day greeting to the world. Plus the documentary Art of the Surge, on how Donald Trump won. Finally, when mom ain’t happy…
3. Money can’t buy taste. Meghan Markle twerking before giving birth to Lilibet four years ago. Released by Harry on Lilibet’s birthday last week. Plus moving pictures of British kings and queens. And American First Ladies. Plus David Brooks on how the elite rigged society.
4. Cabins in the woods. Dutch architect Caspar Schols designed Cabin Anna to save space and money, and rumour has it there’s a new train service to cottage country.
5. There’s evidence of life everywhere. Odd life, but life. First, are you a sapiosexual? Next, the useful joys of wedding pictures. Next, why time is nature’s way of keeping everything from happening at once. Next, how Hollywood bent genders back then, plus how to find your flow. Finally, why there aren’t more serial killers.
6. Older people are getting smarter. Not just as smart as young people, but smarter than ever. Also, why we should join the Old Poets’ Society. Plus the One Hundred Milliseconds Between the World and You. Plus, the Great Man Theory dies a yearned-for death.
7. Big Shifts. Why tech bros no longer dominate the world of billionaires. Also, shouldCanada embrace Europe and abandon the US? German Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Joachim Streit, who has never set foot in Canada, is leading the charge. And governments should stop issuing the same fines to plutocrats and paupers.
8. “It’s a funny old world.” Margaret Thatcher said that in 1990 after being “stabbed in the front” at her last Cabinet meeting. Just how funny some people can’t see. Others ask too much from relationships. Meanwhile, Nick Cave hypes hope on TV.
9. Things to act fast on. The Oilers need to screen this. Why you should be nice when you board a plane. Why you’ll never get a ticket to the final. Plus a new documentary by Prince William on “Guardian Rangers.” And your guide to the G7 Summit which runs from June 15 - 17 in Kananaskis, Alberta.
10. Get your tickets here. Toronto’s big performing arts groups have all launched their Fall/Winter seasons. See here…for Koerner Hall…for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra…for Tafelmusik…for the Canadian Opera Company…and for The National Ballet.