GENERATION UNCOUPLED

A distinguished social scientist explores the nature and consequences of the current “relational crisis between men and women.”

Nearly 20 years of polling has led Cox to a disturbing conclusion about early 21st-century relationships between young men and women: Both seem “less tolerant, patient, or understanding of one another” than at any other time in modern history. Through survey data and research into American cultural trends, Cox examines the issues he sees as key to making sense of this rift. The first, which he describes in Part I, concerns the “civic collapse” of such institutions as family, places of worship, and schools. The resulting vacuum left American youth with few structures to help them understand who they were and, more importantly, “what they owed each other.” Social media only exacerbated this crisis by encouraging young people to prioritize individual identity and expression above real connection with others. The second issue Cox explores, in Part II, is how the divisive politics that appeared with the election of Donald Trump in 2016 caused young men and women to self-segregate by ideology. This, in turn, created a “climate of anxiety and fear” that only heightened the already-extant distrust between males and females. In Part III, the author looks beyond the current gender deadlock to envision how American society could “reaffirm shared values and rebuild relational experiences.” Reinvestment in real-world social spaces to foster face-to-face connection is one solution; another is cultivating awareness in both men and women of “the unique challenges” each must confront and making dating a community-based—rather than algorithmically driven—endeavor. Cox’s study offers a compassionate, clear-eyed view of civic breakdown and practical solutions to end social atomization.

Essential reading for those seeking to help younger generations heal the gender divisions that have fractured them.