Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Envisioning a World Without Men
ABC News ^ | 04/28/2008 | Nick Watt

Posted on 04/29/2008 8:04:52 AM PDT by Ultra Sonic 007

Imagine a world without men: Lauren Bacall but no Bogie, Hillary Clinton but no Bill, no Starsky or Hutch.

This isn't just an unlikely sci-fi scenario. This could be reality, according to Bryan Sykes, an eminent professor of genetics at Oxford University and author of "Adam's Curse: A Future Without Men."

"The Y chromosome is deteriorating and will, in my belief, disappear," Sykes told me. A world-renowned authority on genetic material, Sykes is called upon to investigate DNA evidence from crime scenes. His team of researchers is currently compiling a DNA family tree for our species.

Y Chromosome 'Fatally Flawed'

The Y chromosome is passed from father to son, it's what makes babies into boys. Basically the human template is a female: the Y chromosome kicks in a few weeks after conception and makes a boy. "Men are genetically modified women," explained Sykes. But unlike other chromosomes, the Y chromosome can't repair itself and will, says Sykes, disappear altogether in about 125,000 years.

"Every generation one percent of men will have a mutation which reduces their fertility by 10 percent," explained Sykes. Unlike most chromosomes, the Y does not travel through the generation in pairs, so can never repair itself from a mirror. Flaws are never repaired. "So if that goes on for generation after generation," Sykes argued, "eventually there are no functioning Y chromosomes left."

So no more men … sparsely populated sports bars, Ferrari would lose the lion's share of its business, and Hooters would probably go out of business.

It's a long time, 125,000 years. But we men have a far more immediate problem: sperm counts have fallen by an incredible 20 percent in the past 50 years. Stress? Alcohol? Environmental pollution? Who knows, but it's deeply concerning for those of us with a vested interest in the survival of the male.

Sykes has received hate mail. "To seem to be saying that men will become extinct, which is what I am saying," he mused. "I've had all kinds of messages from male groups saying, 'how can you betray your gender?'"

But would the absence of men make the world a better place? There would be far fewer wars without men on the planet, and the U.S. prison population would drop a colossal 97 percent. Road deaths in the U.S. would fall 70 percent. The Olympics would be half as long, which some people might view as a good thing.

Female-Only Reproduction

But surely, flawed Y chromosome or not, bad behavior or not, we are needed for procreation. Women can't have babies without us … right? I'm afraid, pretty soon they won't need our sperm, our chromosomes, our anything.

Until now, female-only reproduction has been limited to the plant and animal kingdom. So-called parthenogenesis, observed in the Cape Honey Bee, the Kimono Dragon and the hammerhead shark. In humans: confined to 1950s B movies. But Sykes says the technology for women to procreate without us is just around the corner.

"Within the next few years you will get two women having a child who is the biological child of both of them," Sykes said. "And entirely normal in every respect, but always female."

They've already done it with mice. Two mothers: the genetic material from one used to fertilize the egg of the other.

Two Mommies

The picture that Professor Sykes is painting is of a nuclear family without a man in sight. We went in search of what could be the template for the survival of our species. Laura and Natalie are a lovely couple who live in South London with their 13-month-old daughter Sanne. They agreed to let our all-male crew take a peek into their lives. Natalie actually gave birth to Sanne. The sperm came from an anonymous donor. She's raised by two moms.

"That the child will be well balanced with just two moms: Well, that's been proven back in the 40s," explained Natalie, who is also a child psychologist. "It's the care giving and the relationship between the care-giver and the infant that is the important part."

Laura, who right now is the bread winner, thinks any family will work as long as the child is, "getting the attention, the affection, the discipline." Looking at her very contented daughter, Laura told me, "She's obviously confident. She's very stable and secure. So I think so far we're doing okay."

Laura attended both the dads' and the moms' prenatal classes. I asked Natalie if having Laura as the partner was better than having a man? "I had actually a couple of mothers saying, 'Well, at least Laura's a woman she will understand better.'" Natalie told me. "And I said, 'no.' … She was exactly the same as the dads!"

Could Laura mount a defense? "I would like to think that I separate from the dads in that I'm not hooked on the ball games and things like that," she explained. And I must say, she was knee-deep in diaper changing and feeding time while we were hanging out.

So judging by this family, two moms aren't necessarily better, but can be just as good. But surely they must need a burly man for some things? I offered to put up some shelves, or change some light bulbs. "Actually, Laura is very, very handy," Natalie told me, trying not to hurt my feelings.

"My father's a mechanic, so there's nothing about a car that disturbs me," explained Laura. "I've also … I renovated a house. So, I'm really not concerned about that either."

Maybe our only hope as men is that women decide to keep us alive for their own amusement. For the pop music, perhaps, or maybe the dancing. We can be good at that.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: dna; noman; playinggod; science
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 101-113 next last
To: Eurale
So, that will just leave females and gays?

More like females, liberals, and RINOs...

21 posted on 04/29/2008 8:20:25 AM PDT by Jonah Hex ("Never underestimate the hungover side of the Force.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: Ultra Sonic 007
Maybe our only hope as men is that women decide to keep us alive for their own amusement. For the pop music, perhaps, or maybe the dancing. We can be good at that.

written like a true mommy coddled cakeboy....

this notion women are more peace loving will come as quite a shock to the 50 million babies murdered by their mommies since Roe in the US alone....try stacking that up against worldwide war casualties in the same period for example.

and ...this may come as a shock but there are a lot of women out there who like being women, having babies, being loved and provided for and being free to raise the kids.....and having toe curling, gasping, multiple orgasms sex and prefer that with a man. Period.

This sorta drivel appeals to the Andrea Dworkins of our culture who can't get a man anyhow.

22 posted on 04/29/2008 8:22:25 AM PDT by wardaddy (Wright offers church for blacks who can't quite stomach Islam)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Don W
Any credibility I had given this scribbler went out the window with “Kimono Dragon”,

"WHAT YOU SAY?!!!"

23 posted on 04/29/2008 8:23:11 AM PDT by Slings and Arrows ("Code Pink should guard against creating stereotypes in the Mincing Community." --Titan Magroyne)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: FastCoyote

I once mounted a parked car. Least I think it was a car. Too much whiskey.


24 posted on 04/29/2008 8:23:37 AM PDT by Huck (Watching the DEMs come down the stretch is like watching the Mets come down the stretch!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Ultra Sonic 007

I do not have to envision a world without men. Such a world is real. A world without men is named both the Democrat Party and the cable network PMSNBC.


25 posted on 04/29/2008 8:24:13 AM PDT by Biblebelter (Barry, your Uncle Jeremiah is speaking now, Barry can you hear him, Barry what you say now.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: All
Road deaths in the U.S. would fall 70 percent.

At least they got this part right. Without those pesky men around to do the dirty work of constructing and repairing all those roads*, they'll fall into disrepair and no one will be driving on them at all.

*: And building the automobiles, and fixing the automobiles, and working on oil rigs in storm-lashed oceans and baking-hot deserts to get the gasoline to make cars run, and working the dull graveyard shifts in the gas stations, and designing the traffic lights that ensure smooth traffic flow, etc., etc., etc.

26 posted on 04/29/2008 8:26:39 AM PDT by Shigarian
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: Ultra Sonic 007

“The Y chromosome is deteriorating and will, in my belief, disappear,”

Why?


27 posted on 04/29/2008 8:29:06 AM PDT by edcoil
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Ultra Sonic 007

What a sickening thought.


28 posted on 04/29/2008 8:32:00 AM PDT by Allegra (Tehran delenda est)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Ultra Sonic 007
So judging by this family, two moms aren't necessarily better, but can be just as good.

What a bunch of liberal, lesbo, feminazi bullcr@p.

29 posted on 04/29/2008 8:34:35 AM PDT by Allegra (Tehran delenda est)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Slings and Arrows

Dang, are you ever fast with that Photoshop, dude!


30 posted on 04/29/2008 8:35:31 AM PDT by Don W (To write with a broken pencil is pointless.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: wagglebee

Two generations of no exterminators or boys performing “experiments” will mean humanity overwhelmed by bugs, mice, and other assorted “icky” vermin.


31 posted on 04/29/2008 8:42:17 AM PDT by L,TOWM (Liberals, The Other White Meat)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Ultra Sonic 007
Parthenogenesis has been observed in rabbits where you use a needle to pierce the outer membrane of the egg. That action mimics the acrosomal penetration of the egg membrane by the sperm. The problem is that you have a haploid individual. Only one copy of the genes exists in the egg. Loss of sexual reproduction will eventually decrease the diversity and hybrid vigor that comes with the mixing effects of sexual reproduction. Recessive lethals will produce sick or dead offspring. Observe the number of children afflicted with fumarase deficiency at the FLDS facility for an example of what happens when recessive lethals aren't paired with a normal copy of a gene.
32 posted on 04/29/2008 8:43:05 AM PDT by Myrddin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Vaquero

“very little will get accomplished without people with stones.”

That explains the mess that is our government.


33 posted on 04/29/2008 8:46:23 AM PDT by brownsfan (Algore makes P.T. Barnum look like a piker.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: SolidWood
Valerie Solanas (1936–1988), The Scum Manifesto
34 posted on 04/29/2008 8:50:25 AM PDT by onedoug
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Ultra Sonic 007

Envisioning a World Without Men
*****************

No thank you. I LIKE men.


35 posted on 04/29/2008 8:53:16 AM PDT by Southerngl
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Ultra Sonic 007

Just think girls; only 125,000 years to go!


36 posted on 04/29/2008 8:53:20 AM PDT by YHAOS
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Slings and Arrows
[Killing spiders, investigating strange noises in the night, parallel parking...what did you think I meant?]

And getting tight lids off of jars. Don't forget that one. ;-)

37 posted on 04/29/2008 8:53:47 AM PDT by Allegra (Tehran delenda est)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: Radl

“How are they going to decide who does the digging and who holds the flag at those construction sites?”

Or, who will kill that oh-so-scary (but actually quite harmless) snake in the back yard?


38 posted on 04/29/2008 8:56:02 AM PDT by Clioman
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Ultra Sonic 007

No Men in 125,000 years, huh? I wonder if Hillary can remain politically viable that long?


39 posted on 04/29/2008 8:57:56 AM PDT by Tallguy (Tagline is offline till something better comes along...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Ultra Sonic 007

And who will defend these new feminists against jihadis with guns who will not follow this practice, but do practice polygamy?


40 posted on 04/29/2008 8:59:13 AM PDT by tbw2 ("Sirat: Through the Fires of Hell" by Tamara Wilhite - on amazon.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 101-113 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson