# Book review: Too much angst, too little education



## Cletus (Apr 27, 2012)

A 3-book review that might make it onto my reading shelf.


http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/13/books/review/date-onomics-the-sex-myth-and-modern-romance.html

_It’s important to point out here that there aren’t actually more women than men in the United States: There are 1.05 boys born for every one girl. But by “women” Birger means single, college-​educated, straight women, and “men” are single, college-educated, straight men. There are 33 percent more such women in their 20s than men. To help us see what a big difference 33 percent is, Birger invites us to imagine a late-night dorm room hangout that’s drawing to an end, and everyone wants to hook up. “Now imagine,” he writes, that in this dorm room, “there are three women and two men._

This one does not bode well at all for men. Class membership in dating is a stronger motivator even than race. Men are now becoming a scarce resource for college educated women. Want to increase your potential dating pool, boys? Get an education, and you'll get a better mate to boot. 

_"Motivated by her own sense of falling short of some sexual ideal, and by conversations with friends who felt the same way, Hills attempts to show how we moved from “a culture that told us we were dirty if we did have sex to one that tells us we are defective if we do not do it enough.”_

I've definitely felt the undercurrent of this message here many times.


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