Auden on the War of the Sexes
“IN OUR time the war of the sexes has become much too serious an issue to be treated in a farcical manner. This has been true in England ever since the passage of the Married Woman’s Property Act in 1882. Up to that point there was no question, basically, that man was boss. I cannot tell you what a shock it was to come to this country. In England things are run for the benefit of men, and it is too bad if you are a girl. In America things are run for the benefit of women, and the men have an unfortunate time. I dropped into a bar after I had been here for a week and wondered about the unaccompanied women I saw. I still wonder. In England women are colorless. In America they are more interesting than the men. They are better educated, confident, and amusing to talk to.
“Perhaps, however, they suffer more in this country than they are willing to admit by holding such a dominating position, and one that is increasing. In fifty years most American men will be honorably employed as gigolos.”
— W.H. Auden, Lectures on Shakespeare (1946-47), Princeton University Press, 2000 (more…)







