For the past couple of years, I've been banging on a bit about how changes in women's role in society potentially have impacted, and stand to impact, our economy, culture, and so on (and the impact they're having on the relevance of certain political debates involving what we have traditionally come to refer to as "women's issues"-- something that, by the way, increasingly strikes me as a rather outdated, outmoded and not particularly meaningful term).

In this Atlantic piece, some of these changes are discussed rather extensively, pushing the question alluded to in the title-- are we facing the "end of men" in some or any respect(s), or will we be?

This piece from the WSJ last week is a must-read, and similarly begs some questions about what our society-- and gender roles-- might look like in 20 years.

Young women, who have already passed young men in education, are now more career-driven as well, according to a survey released Thursday.Young women, who have already passed young men in education, are now more career-driven as well, according to a survey released Thursday.

About two-thirds of women between ages 18 and 34 cited a high-paying career among their top life priorities, compared with just 59% of young men, the Pew Research Center in Washington said. That was a reversal from 1997, when 56% of women rated a high-paying career high on their list of priorities, less than the 58% of men surveyed back then, according to Pew. The research is based on phone surveys of 1,181 women and 1,308 men....

The gubernatorial race is well underway in Washington, with Jay Inslee having left Congress last week in order to focus full-time on running to replace outgoing Gov. Christine Gregoire, and Rob McKenna running while, well, continuing to do his job as Washington’s Attorney General. This week, as it happens, perhaps offers something of an indicator of the nature of the contest, with thanks to the eagle-eyed reader who tipped me off to a couple of interesting tidbits.

Beginning tonight, McKenna’s Presidential Initiative Summit, “Pillars of Hope – Attorneys General Unite Against Human Trafficking” (a 3-day National Association of Attorneys General meeting) gets underway at the Seattle Westin. The summit continues through Friday, focusing on indentifying methods of combating sex and labor trafficking.

Meanwhile Friday lunchtime, Inslee will be attending a fundraiser hosted by California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom at the Sheraton in downtown Seattle. This follows a fundraiser earlier this month with former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer (Inslee raising money with Spitzer being something bound to tick off a few readers, given the circumstances in which Spitzer exited his job as governor).

Serious business aimed at combating a real social ill versus light-hearted socializing with big names in party politics to propel one’s political career is what this will read as to some political observers, I imagine—unfortunately for Inslee....

The gubernatorial race is well underway in Washington, with Jay Inslee having left Congress last week in order to focus full-time on running to replace outgoing Gov. Christine Gregoire, and Rob McKenna running while, well, continuing to do his job as Washington’s Attorney General. This week, as it happens, perhaps offers something of an indicator of the nature of the contest, with thanks to the eagle-eyed reader who tipped me off to a couple of interesting tidbits.

Beginning tonight, McKenna’s Presidential Initiative Summit, “Pillars of Hope – Attorneys General Unite Against Human Trafficking” (a 3-day National Association of Attorneys General meeting) gets underway at the Seattle Westin. The summit continues through Friday, focusing on indentifying methods of combating sex and labor trafficking.

Meanwhile Friday lunchtime, Inslee will be attending a fundraiser hosted by California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom at the Sheraton in downtown Seattle. This follows a fundraiser earlier this month with former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer (Inslee raising money with Spitzer being something bound to tick off a few readers, given the circumstances in which Spitzer exited his job as governor).

Serious business aimed at combating a real social ill versus light-hearted socializing with big names in party politics to propel one’s political career is what this will read as to some political observers, I imagine—unfortunately for Inslee....