What’s the Matter with Men?

Plus: the Democrats’ gift to Ron DeSantis; remembering David Crosby; and the best books we read this week. View in browser | Update your preferences Wednesday, January 25, 2023 In today’s newsletter, the fall of men, and then: • The Democrats’ gift to Ron DeSantis • Remembering David Crosby • The best books we read this week What’s the Matter with Men? They’re floundering at school and in the workplace. Some conservatives blame a crisis of masculinity, but the problems—and their solutions—are far more complex. Illustration by Golden Cosmos Lately, the guys haven’t been doing so well. In South Korea, girls have been outperforming boys in school; in Sweden, researchers say they are facing a pojkkrisen, or “boy crisis”; and, in the United States, the sex ratio at colleges is nearing two female undergraduates for every one male. “Is the second sex becoming the better half?” Idrees Kahloon asks, in a probing piece in this week’s issue. Kahloon reviews “Of Boys and Men,” the latest book by the inequality scholar Richard V. Reeves, who writes that, in our modern age, “working for gender equality means focusing on boys rather than girls.” Kahloon explores various ideas in Reeves’s book, including why blue-collar pay has stagnated, how the prevalence of opioids and video games may have contributed to a drop in work among men, and how the political right is using the so-called crisis of masculinity to power their rhetoric and swing voters. Kahloon asks, “Women had to endure centuries of subjugation and discrimination; should we really be alarmed that they are just now managing to overshoot gender parity in a few domains?” Read the story Support The New Yorker’s award-winning journalism. Subscribe today » From the News Desk Dispatch The Democratic Party’s Political Gift to Ron DeSantis Republicans’ sustained and successful courting of Latino voters in South Florida could be a road map for the G.O.P. in 2024. By Stephania Taladrid Q. & A. Two Supreme Court Cases That Could Break the Internet A cornerstone of life online has been that platforms are not responsible for content posted by users. What happens if that immunity goes away? By Isaac Chotiner Editor’s Pick Under Review The Best Books We Read This Week Our editors and critics review notable new fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. By The New Yorker Culture Dept. Notes on Hollywood The Best Actress Race at the Oscars Is Crowded, Unpredictable, and Weird Andrea Riseborough came out of nowhere to earn a nomination, while Michelle Yeoh and Cate Blanchett appear to be the front-runners. By Michael Schulman Postscript David Crosby Understood the Sharpness of Despair The musician was gifted, irascible, often disliked by his bandmates, free-flowing on Twitter, and possessed of a singular voice. By Amanda Petrusich Daily Comment “Argentina, 1985” Gets an Oscar Nod The film tells the improbable—and history-making—story of how a military dictatorship was brought to justice. By Graciela Mochkofsky Afterword The Bartender Behind the Blue Hawaii Illustration by Dror Cohen In her obituary column, the staff writer Susan Orlean pays homage to people, places, and things we’ve lost. This week, she writes about the bartender Harry Yee, who worked at the Hawaiian Village in Honolulu for decades. “Yee recalled being asked regularly for a local cocktail, which didn’t exist,” Orlean writes. When he finally came up with the Blue Hawaii, “the drink was a hit.” Previously: The Fort Wayne Daisies’ Star Pitcher. Fun & Games Dept. Name Drop Play Today’s Quiz Can you guess the notable person in six clues or fewer? By Matt Jackson Daily Shouts Winners and Losers from This Year’s Oscar Nominations Winners: Lydia Tár (she is real). Losers: Me personally. By Jason Adam Katzenstein Crossword A Lightly Challenging Puzzle Liqueur that makes a Blue Lagoon blue: seven letters. By Patrick Berry Daily Cartoon Wednesday, January 25th By Dan Misdea P.S. “To write down one’s impressions of Hamlet as one reads it year after year, would be virtually to record one’s own autobiography, for as we know more of life, so Shakespeare comments upon what we know.” That’s Virginia Woolf, who was born on this day in 1882, writing about a particular quality found in the works of art that we return to again and again. For Jenny Offill, “Mrs. Dalloway” is such a work: “I could feel my loneliness recede slightly as I read the words,” she writes, of encountering it first as a teen-ager; many years later, the book became “a model for the domestic novel that I hoped to write.” Today’s newsletter was written by Jessie Li. Thanks for reading. Let us know your thoughts about today’s edition. Plus, browse more newsletters and invite a friend to sign up for The Daily. You’re receiving this e-mail because you signed up for The Daily from The New Yorker. Manage your preferences | View our Privacy Policy | Unsubscribe Copyright © Condé Nast 2023. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.