The New “Gender” Math? More Women+Less Men=A Better World?

The New “Gender” Math? More Women+Less Men=A Better World? October 22, 2013

A few weeks ago, in the early days of the latest Government “crisis” over the shutdown and debt ceiling, Piers Morgan interviewed two women, one of them actress Sharon Stone, about a documentary they were promoting focused on bringing equality to girls and women around the world.  It was an insightful, positive interview about a very important global topic.

At one point, Piers asked a question that lately has been asked a lot: Would the world be better off with less male leaders and more female leaders?

Sharon Stone brilliantly deflected the question by asking Piers what he thought.  His response: Yes!  The world would be a better place if we had more women running things.  He cited the wars that men often lead us into and of course, mentioned the testosterone mess in Washington, DC.

Sharon tactfully agreed with him, citing some of the great female leaders of late from Margaret Thatcher to Hillary Clinton (not to mention Condolezza Rice and Angela Merkel, to name a few).

This The-World-Would-Be-A-Better Place-If We Had More-Women-Leading-It argument is increasingly growing in volume, and for good reason.  This latest testosterone-led DC mess was ultimately fixed by several women.  Women seem to be much more suited to collaboration conciliation than competitive men.  (In part, this is due to biology: Women have more oxytocin, a bonding chemical.  Men have more testosterone, an aggression/competition hormone.)

So it’s not a stretch to suggest the equation: More Women + Less Men=a Better World!

But hold on.  While the world does need more women in leadership and the perspective and gifts that women bring, that doesn’t mean the world needs less men.

What the world needs is better men!  Men of character and honor and sacrifice and a servant’s heart.  There are times, many times, when the world needs the energy of testosterone to get things done, to fight the foe, to set things right—just as there are many times the world needs the leadership energy of collaboration and relationship that many women bring.  One leadership energy is not better than the other.  Both are crucial and essential to a better world.

The challenge is that we too often see men using their energy in self-centered, destructive, peacock strutting ways.  That doesn’t mean we need less men.

We need better men!

And better men are built from the ground up—starting when they are boys.  Teaching boys early on the unique power of male energy and how to harness it for good will go a long way in building better men and in building a better world.


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