On Douthat's column

I really don't have much to say that hasn't already been said about the Douthat column about how we need more "sexual stigma" so women can be happier. But I did want to note that despite the fact that Douthat only has to write one column a week, he still can't come up with his own damn hook.

The first paragraph of the study he's riffing on:

By many measures the progress of women over recent decades has been extraordinary: the gender wage gap has partly closed; educational attainment has risen and is now surpassing that of men; women have gained an unprecedented level of control over fertility; technological change in the form of new domestic appliances has freed women from domestic drudgery; and women’s freedoms within both the family and market sphere have expanded.

Douthat's first paragraph:

American women are wealthier, healthier and better educated than they were 30 years ago. They’re more likely to work outside the home, and more likely to earn salaries comparable to men’s when they do. They can leave abusive marriages and sue sexist employers. They enjoy unprecedented control over their own fertility. On some fronts — graduation rates, life expectancy and even job security — men look increasingly like the second sex.

I guess his hook comes later, with the radical revelation that men and women do similar amounts of housework, and that are no penalties for politicians who hire prostitutes (although it is true that there's no penalty if you're a Republican, as commenter "seeker0769" at Pandagon points out).