As I said before if one watches trash tv as I do on occasion(my wife allows me to watch Brooke Burke..she even bought me Brooke's calendar for my office...I have a great wife!), one could conclude that they are indeed catching up with my gender. Soaring illegitmacy bears that out.
I think that is the point the author is trying to make in a very unsubtle way, that females are catching up to males in acting irresponsibly.
A better example would have been to include some present day examples of how these women have been taught to act like guys.