Bad Economy: Nobody's favorite reality show

Well, of course, at the forefront of many people's minds is the state of the economy. Unemployment reaches record highs in what many call "the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression." While hard times affect nearly everyone, many will respond differently than others. This is where many lines form, including gender lines.

I still remember reading in history books about the many men who went through psychological depression during the Great Depression, many to the point of suicide. They felt inadequate because they could not fulfill their societal role as the "provider" and "gatherer". Of course, like many things I've seen in history books, I thought those days had passed. Apparently I was wrong.

Watching the news in the past few days I think I've seen about three different stories on men dealing with the economy, and how they try to cope with the same feelings that plagued men of the Great Depression. An interesting story (which I couldn't get a hold of *sadface*) was a short cnn report on men who "got manicures" and lived a "relatively metrosexual lifestyle" who themselves could not even shake the feelings of inadequacy brought on by their inability to work and provide. Statistics are showing that many more men are getting laid off than women, since the jobs men traditionally do are getting more layoffs. Many men are unemployed as their wives continue to work. This forced gender role reversal has many men shaken up and confused.

I'm starting to see that these traditional genderical values are rooted deeper into our lifestyles than I thought. Maybe we can start to learn a lesson and rethink our values during these rough times. Maybe this thing will have a silver lining after all.