Women, you do it to yourself

This from a new book, Unnatural Selection: Choosing Boys Over Girls, and the Consequences of a World Full of Men as excerpted in a review:

Women have become, in a sense, their own worst enemies. Development, remember, was supposed to improve the lot of women -- and in many areas it does. But when it comes to reproduction, the opposite happens: women use their increased autonomy to select for sons.

So true, this idea that women are their own worst enemies.

Unwilling fathers: deadbeats or victims?

The British Prime Minister thinks it’s the former. In a Father’s Day piece in the British newspaper The Telegraph, the PM wrote this:

It's high time runaway dads were stigmatised and the full force of shame was heaped upon them. They should be looked at like drink-drivers, people who are beyond the pale. They need the message rammed home to them, from every part of our culture, that what they're doing is wrong; that leaving single mothers, who do a heroic job against all odds, to fend for themselves simply isn't acceptable.

Demonizing men who are unwilling to be fathers against their will is not new, but this is a little over the top. It sounds like these men would be beaten in the streets if the PM had his way. The idea that all single mothers are heroes and the fathers deadbeats is ridiculous.

Does the PM know the circumstances surrounding each of the men he wants to stigmatize? Many men are made fathers against their will. Here’s an example:

Four more reasons (links)

1. If you’re a man who wants to feel what it’s like to be pregnant (no thanks), you can try this contraption.
2. More resentment of men for, well, being men.
3. I wonder how many men these days wish they could sell their wives.
4. Congrats to Master P’s lawyers. Why do I have the feeling this victory will be short lived?

Links

I'm sure you've all heard enough about Weiner-gate by now.  What's that?  You haven't?  OK, well here's some more: an analysis of how the fact that his wife is pregnant changes the game.

And here's a reason I need to visit Switzerland.  Now that I think about it, maybe Weiner should have taken a diplomatic trip there.

Rich people have fewer kids

Justin Wolfers summarizes some pretty convincing data showing the correlation between income and children... that rich people have fewer kids.  But the question remains: What is the cause and what is the effect?  Do people have fewer kids once they get rich, or does having fewer kids make you rich?  Does some third variable, like being well educated, cause you to both become rich and have fewer kids?

Father's rights?

A New Mexico man who believes that his ex-girlfriend aborted his child (she won’t say) has reportedly spent $1300 to take out a billboard to shame her.  It's got a picture of him (I think) holding something hard to make out as if it were a baby and reads:

This Would Have Been a Picture Of My 2-Month Old Baby If The Mother Had Decided To NOT KILL Our Child!

Apart from the pro-life wackery and the dramedy of this couple’s court battles, this story brings a few serious thoughts to mind: