Men: Does losing the battle of the sexes really mean losing?

There are a few more battles that need to be fought over equal pay and breaking through the "glass ceiling" but it is more or less an accepted fact that the battle of the sexes is all but over - and that women are the undisputed winners.

I won't reiterate the massive strides that women have made in the workplace and, most especially, academically, over the last forty years or so. Suffice to say that old stereotypes about girls not being as bright as boys, or that a woman is not as competent as a man, have been well and truly consigned to being a historical curiousity.

But what, one may ask, is it that women have won, and is what they have won worth having? The same question may also be asked about what men have lost and whether what they have lost is such a great loss.

What should not be disputed is that women have asserted and won their right to have exactly the same opportunities as men, educationally, professionally and socially, and that women, men and society as a whole will benefit from this development.

But women's progress and promotion has not come without cost, most of all to women themselves. As increasing numbers of women occupy the highest positions in society, they will find, as men have found before them, that time and not money will become their most precious - and most scarce - commodity. They may earn a lot of money and own many possessions, but will have little time to enjoy them. Nor will they be able to spend as much time with their partners and children as they would like.

For I predict that by the end of the century, the old nuclear style family will still be there, in one form or another, but that in most cases it will be the woman, rather than the man, who will be going out to work or will, at least, be the primary breadwinner.

Spending long hours each day doing highly stressful jobs (whether at the highest or middling levels), will shorten the average lifespan of females in general, and bring on increased sickness and depression that will lead to forms of escape equally favoured by males when they were in the same position, such as drug or alcohol dependancy, sex or gambling.

This "escapism" could then lead to other health problems or to law breaking if the woman loses control and commits an offence, or resorts to crime to fuel her drug, alcohol or gambling addictions.

Men and women are far more similar than they are different and there is no reason to believe that when ground down by a stressful job, a woman will seek relief through one of the methods listed above.

Women, having become more masculine to compete, thrive and ultimately beat men at their own game in what was once a man's world, will become more aggressive and therefore more inclined towards violence and crime to solve their problems.

Women may have gained equal opportunities, and even, it has been argued, superiority over men, but at a potential cost to their physical, mental and emotional health. And, it is asked, is the advancement of women for the good of women, or merely a predetermined outcome dictated by capitalism? Women may have become the new breadwinners but have also become the new workers, taking on the back-breaking task of making profit and keeping the economy going.

And what of the poor, emasculated male? No longer able to compete with women in the classroom or the workplace, most men of the late twenty-first century will be in the home, doing the tasks that were once deemed to be the province of "the little woman".

Sure, at first, such an existence will be humiliating, especially for the first generation who had once been the breadwinners and decision makers but had through circumstances ended up trading places with their partners, but successive generations would adapt to it.

For the first time ever, all of the pressures of having to earn a living to support his family and make major decisions will be lifted from the man's shoulders. He should consume his tremendous energies with maintaining the family home, both structurally and cosmetically, supporting his breadwinning partner and nurturing his children. A more rewarding existence cannot be imagined.

And it will bring reward. A happier, less stressful existence will lead, perhaps, to men's lifespan and health improving, to a life of duty and care rather than escapism and diversion, the respect of women (rather than the scorn currently in vogue) and to a softening in the male psyche to become a little more feminine and at home in a more feminine role.

Perhaps losing is not always such a bad thing after all.