“We don‘t need men anymore." It‘s a claim uttered in passing during late-night TV monologues. One seen plastered on t-shirts and coffee mugs in kitschy gift shops. But how much truth is there to this flippant statement made in jest? As society moves closer to notions of "equality between the sexes" and benefits from advancing technology dulling the hardships of the past, it can be tempting to downplay the ongoing indispensability of men‘s contributions in a variety of realms. However, such beliefs crumble when faced with the reality of facts on the ground and jobs vital for civilization’s functioning.
The Dirty, Dangerous, and Demeaning Work That Keeps Society Running
The privileged among us living comfy lives surrounded by technological marvels allowing food to be delivered to the door with a couple taps of an app may be lulled into viewing manual labor as a relic of the past. Yet the infrastructure, goods, and services powering modern living do not arise from thin air or springs forth fully formed from silicone chips. They require gritty, grueling work out on the front lines that often entails getting one‘s hands dirty, risking life and limb, and taxing stamina to its very limits.
Overwhelmingly, it is men that gravitate towards and dominate these tough but essential trades and professions. In fact, men make up 94% of electrical power line installers, 99% of aircraft pilots, 98% of petroleum engineers, and over 90% of coal miners. The list goes on and on. Other statistics paint an even starker picture of this gender discrepancy:
- 92% workplace fatalities in America are men
- Over 10 times more male soldiers die in wars than female soldiers
- Men carry out over 80% of patrolling and first response duties in law enforcement
- Male firefighters are 97 times more likely to die on the job compared to female firefighters
Clearly the notion that deference, empathy, and desk jobs represent the future while stoic grit in confronting danger head-on is a relic of the past fails to grapple with reality.
Biology and Evolution – Designing the Disposable Male
These stark imbalances naturally lead one to wonder – are men biologically or evolutionarily geared towards occupations involving extreme risk and hardship? Research into human evolution indicates that may indeed be the case. Compared to women, men possess 60% more upper body strength, greater stamina, faster reaction times, and psychological drivers pushing them towards risk-taking and confrontation.
Why this divergence between the sexes? Some evolutionary psychologists theorize that it emerged out of a sexual division of labor in hunter-gatherer tribal groups. Males developed powerful upper bodies, fearlessness, and aggression to confront predators and enemies while hunting game for the tribe to eat. Females developed nurturing instincts to raise offspring and gather plant foods back at home base.
Fast forward to modern times and these ancient roles have translated into men gravitating towards dangerous work requiring aggressive determination and a high tolerance for risk. Particularly as traditional notions of masculinity pressure men into finding their purpose through big feats rather than pursuing safer options leaving time for family. This "disposable male" meme continues to populate occupations keeping society running today.
Brawn and Sweat Required – Even in an Automated Age
"Technology and automation will make the need for brute force labor unnecessary." It‘s a tempting notion, but one failing to match reality. The infrastructure forming the backbone of human‘s globally connected civilization relies upon physical upkeep and confrontation with harsh environmental conditions. Server stacks humming away in sterile warehouses still depend on electricity supplied from solar panels and wind turbines erected by humans out in storms and off coasts. The food appearing on grocery store shelves gets there via supply chains involving rail, ships, planes, and trucks all exposing operators to extremes.
In virtually every industry essential for supporting prosperous modern living, one finds the same gender imbalance skewed heavily towards men keeping operations running. They are the ones fixing electrical lines in the baking sun, descending into mines risking cave-ins to extract coal, maintaining oil pipelines in freezing windswept plains, piloting cargo freighters on the high seas, constructing skyscrapers stories into the air, and engaged in actual automation implementation. Once all the hard work is complete, cushy desk jobs emerge entering data into the systems built by the labor and sweat of men.
What a World Without Men Quickly Entails
Still not convinced that men remain as essential as they were when hunting mastodons? One need only examine examples throughout history of societies losing huge swaths of their male population. Often due to bloody wars depleting the supply of men. In Russia during World War 2, for example, over 20 million men died halving the adult male population. The result? Social disorder, exploiting of women, drops in marriage, plunges in birth rates, more out-of-wedlock children, and moral crisis. Infrastructure crumbled without men to provide upkeep and stabilization.
More recently, Northern China has experienced these same woes due to a skewed population balance from the One Child policy. Too few young adult males unable to find brides has fueled an aggressive incel culture involving trafficking of women from overseas to serve as brides. Once again, the data shows a world without men easily falls into chaos on multiple fronts testing the foundations of civilization.
Beyond Muscle – Psychological Drivers Underpinning Progress
Up until now, the focus has been on occupations requiring traditionally masculine traits of strength, fearlessness, aggression, and risk-taking. As important as these are for tasks vital to humanity‘s progress, men contribute in less physically-oriented realms as well.
Fields like technology, business, finance, and innovation that enable modern prosperity free from harsh living conditions rely on archetypal masculine proclivities too. Tenacity bordering on obstinance provides the perseverance for entrepreneurs working 100 hour weeks for years on wavering odds to finally reach breakthroughs. Stoicism gives leaders the level-headedness to guide organizations calmly through turmoil times again and again. Competiveness drives the out-innovating of rivals needed to stay on top. Grand visions summon the venturing into uncharted frontiers unafraid of what may lie over the horizon.
Meanwhile, as Silicon Valley endlessly optimizes ad clicks and food delivery apps, it is predominantly men descending mile underground to mine the rare Earth minerals, copper, lithium, and gold needed to manufacture the technology we take for granted. This spirit of masculine exploration, daring, and tenacity underpins human progress even in comfortable modern times where it remains easy to forget society floats on an infrastructure-laden iceberg with the bulk hidden from view.
Confronting Reality – Men as Indispensable as Ever
So the next time one comes across a superficially appealing meme or throwaway claim downplaying just how necessary men remain for humanity‘s continued prosperity, comfort, and hope for the future, remember the facts and data underneath. Men overwhelmingly continue performing the arduous, dangerous, and psychologically-taxing jobs vital for maintaining this civilization and pushing it forward through innovation.
Our modern luxury of entertaining notions that men are obsolete arises precisely thanks to stalwart men putting themselves on the line to confront nature‘s cruelty and supply the rest of us with necessities & conveniences. Until technology can replace every salty sea captain, stoic smokejumper, and feisty wildcatter, society remains utterly and fundamentally dependent on the blood, sweat, and testosterone of men pursuing progress by taking the hits so the rest don‘t have to.