There has been a shift in the proportion of males to females in the past forty years. Throughout the history of our country there were many more males than there were females. Men had to compete for the attention of women. Men had to behave, have good manners and treat women well or they would be replaced.
Then the demographics shifted. There were more women than men. Women must ‘treat men well’ or they will be replaced.
Men and women have different ideas about what it means to be treated well.
I’m surprised at that.
I would have expected the deaths of males in WW1 and WW2 would have swung the balance the other way.
Interesting take on the demographic shift. Yes, men and women have different ideas about what it means to be treated well, however I’d like to think self-respect and mutual respect, and yes, honesty, is in the best interest of both parties to make a relationship balanced and workable long-term. Being old school, a person was given respect until they behaved otherwise. It appears there isn’t much respect on anyone’s part these days, nor a sense of self-sacrifice, only “what’s in it for me...me....me.”
At least in the US and other Western countries, where there is little sex-selection at or before birth, the overall ratio of men to women has been remarkably stable. What has changed in the past 40 years is the ratio of men to women among the relatively well-educated. Men and women engage in assortive mating, each attracted to the other within fairly narrow race, income, and education categories. There are more high-earning college-educated women than high-earning, college-educated men among 25-44 year olds now, so competition among women for highly “marriageable†men has increased. This is driving many trends we observe, such as late marriages, the increase in never marrieds, and many changes in sexual behavior.