Thursday, February 11, 2010

The New Dating Game by Charlotte Allen

Recommended: read the thorough Weekly Standard article The New Dating Game by Charlotte Allen, along with this illustrative article in the New York Times. The Allen article draws heavily on blog Roissy in DC.

The main theme of the Allen article is that the feminist revolution broke down sexual restrictions and granted women guilt-free freedom to change the rules of the "dating game" in Western society. With their feminist freedom, women are choosing caddish "alpha males" over loyal good-provider "beta males". The result is the rise of a Darwinian "New Paleolithic" dating scene and the rejection by young women of the marriage, courtship, and gender norms that have provided for the structural stability of thousands of years of civilization. The changes have fundamentally shaken our society and caused individual and wider social harms. Men disadvantaged by the imposition of evolutionary competition are angry and traumatized, but it seems doubtful that young women will choose to undo their perceived gains from the feminist revolution. "Game", as a survival response or a kind of masculinist insurgency against feminism, is being adopted by a growing number of men trying to adapt to the paradigm shift. The author makes clear that the choice of "dating game" ultimately lies with women, not men.



Considering the choices made by people who have the power and freedom to choose from self-interest, I spent hours trying to locate a famous quote that says it's immoral, but rarely wrong, to expect the worst of people. (Update: Perhaps I was thinking of the "You'll never go broke . . . " construction.) Hours I should have been studying, on a task I thought would take a minute at most. Ugh. I couldn't find the quote, but I found these neat unrelated quotes:
Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events.
Sir Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965)

I hear and I forget.
I see and I believe.
I do and I understand.
Confucius (551 BC - 479 BC)

Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882)

Other stuff for later: an article about conservative advocacy in the Academy, which may provide insight for ROTC advocacy, and a U.Florida law school talk with Justice Thomas.

Eric

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