This article isn't about closeted homosexuality; it's not asserting that there's a vast population of women who were born to be with women, and are instead trapped in unfulfilling heterosexual arrangements. No, this article, despite its celebration of unconventional lifestyles, boils down to something much more orthodox: Femininity and masculinity mix well together. And women are taking masculinity where they can get it, even if it's in the arms of a fellow female.
Normally, one might dismiss an article that explains that "more women may be stepping out of the conventional gender box," -- but this is O magazine. The piece, "Why Women Are Leaving Men for Other Women," appears in an issue that features an exclusive interview at the White House with Michelle Obama. This is mainstream stuff.
Last year, author Kathleen Parker published a book called "Save the Males." What a perfect title, what a necessary cause, I thought at the time. As Parker wrote: "For the past 30 years or so, males have been under siege by a culture that too often embraces the notion that men are to blame for all of life's ills. ... While women have been cast as victims...men have been quietly retreating into their caves." Sometimes, of course, women are victims. There are many Rihannas that do not have the escape hatch of fame and wealth. But while feminists whine about false pay gaps and oppression that doesn't exist, we ignore the mess that we created by rejecting nature and tradition We've so confused ourselves that almost 100 teenagers in Boston are excusing Chris Brown. Why wouldn't they? Men and women are equal, but we've conditioned ourselves to expect a lot less of men, and maybe too much of women. "Save the Males" needs a follow-up: A Woman's Memo to Her Sister Feminists: Let's Call the Whole Thing Off. Or instead of another book, why don't we just reboot? Was it really that bad when men didn't have to pretend to be what they weren't and women didn't have to try to reinvent themselves to make up for what they lost?