Of course, you'll tune in. What true feminist wouldn't love *another* show that tries to make men look incompetent, right?

Why the assumption that there will be "chaos"?

Hasn't this already been done? I seem to remember reading something about a town in Scotland that tried this same experiment.

Funny thing is, the guys did fine. Must be why we won't see that show on TV.

This is a US version of the UK reality TV show, "The Week The Women Went" done in 2005 in a town in Nottinghamshire.

No big changes occurred, though the men were pretty sweet about missing their wives (see here: http://comment.independent.co.uk/columnists_a_l/yasmin_alibhai_brown/article2154.ece). I'm sure the feminists will find some grist for the mill in the US version, though.....

...it's Alaska!

So... we're all definitely rooting for lots of humiliating failures among the men, right? Some little object lesson to show how us womenfolk are much smarer to our invariably dimwitted brothers who need to be saved from their inept little selves?

(sigh)

Wouldn't it be refreshingly honest if the Broadsheet editors were to finally come-out and say: "Yeah, we like mocking men more than actually trying to deal with them as human beings who deserve as much respect and dignity as what we'd demand for women. It's more fun, too."

Seriously, let's be honest: the sex-based cheerleading is completely blatant at Broadsheet. Don't even pretend otherwise. If you deny it, you're clueless or mendacious.

Why is the line between "pro-woman" and "anti-man" so easily crossed all the time?

No, don't dismiss this. This really needs to be confronted.

Parson Jim. That's an interesting story.

What I found rather amusing was that when the women left that town, they took the au pairs and other helpers with them. So, it seems that the men were forced to get by without the additional help that the women could not do without.

Sounds like silly fun. And it would be fun to see it done the other way 'round too ... women hauling out their own trash, wandering around aimlessly with unopenable jars, women unable to enter their homes because of a spider or a mouse, unfixable cars left to rot in the roadways. Wheeeeeeeeeee!

and the moms at home for a week with no paycheck/savings account from their husbands...

When my wife takes a several days business trip, here's what I do: during the day I clean the house, do the laundry, and make repairs. In between that I'll smoke a cigar, drink bourbon, read a book, and play with the cats. I might even skip work a few days for the opportunity.

At night I order pizza, rent the worst and cheesiest horror movies my heart desires, drink bourbon, and hang out with the cats while I watch the flicks. Perfection.

I imagine a variation of this will happen to the guys in that town, except that they'll probably get together for all night poker sessions and maybe watch sports together. If they are like me, though, they'll enjoy the hell out of themselves, but start to miss their women and be happy when they return.

Moderation of fun rears its ugly head once again.

The Disappearance by Philip Wylie is a 1960's era science fiction novel that explores what happens when the world splits into male and female halves. The account alternates views between the world where all the males have disappeared and the one where all the females have vanished. Chaos ensues in both places. So this isn't exactly original, but it could be mildly enjoyable... I vote that they should go back in six months and shoot the same show with the menfolk having been removed.

Clifton Goodwin

The feminists do not want to continue to fan the gender wars. It is only in my imagination that I think this when I read silly articles like this.

Funny though how just taking people up and out of a situation is supposed to IMMEDIATELY lead to smooth sailing for everyone left behind.

How about INSTEAD the women get taken out, and then a FEW DAYS are given for things to return to normal. I bet, a few days down, things would seem to be running pretty smoothly after all.

While this sort of gender baiting stupidity may have worked fifty years ago, the last two generations of men have grown up with home ec courses in middle school, an understanding that modern women refuse to do anything for them and for the family anyway (even if they knew how to cook and clean), and the brains to know where the local pizza place is located and how to call them (don't kid yourself, lots of moms call too).

Mostly, I am disappointed that Canada is apparently at least as misandrist as America.

"To be fair, before the chaos ensues, the show could also be called "a week without half the adults"

So doesn't that render everything that happens totally irrelevant in terms of illuminating anything about the sexes? Yeah, so people used to having a partner might have a harder time doing everything themselves, but that doesn't sound like a terribly astute sociological observation.

Wait, it's reality tv, what am I expecting?

The point of such an "experiment" is it proves that we function much better when we work together...when we cooperate...when we share responsibilities...when we respect the unique role we each have in this partnership. In other words, Broadsheet, when the community supports marriage! (I hasten to add marriage between any two people, because the goals of marriage are the same: when we all support marriage, it strengthens all aspects of society.)

I did not say marriage is the end-all/be-all, that it's the ultimate goal. I said marriage is an institution that benefits all levels of society when everyone supports it as a worthy option.

Again I'll state: feminism has been anti-marriage from its inception, and especially harsh from the 60's through to the present. That's sad, because it automatically bars millions of women and the men who love them who enjoy the partnership, who believe being a parent is a worthy task, and who--quite frankly--could use your support instead of misplaced scorn. Feminism is just a political movement that pays constant lip service to women's empowerment...but undercuts women who make what they deem "politically incorrect" choices at every opportunity. And that is a true shame, because other issues: reproductive freedom, wage parity (just to name two) need all the support we can get to make them the unassailable laws of the land. You'll get that support from across the spectrum...as soon as you mea culpa your ineffective and boneheaded stances that are anti-male and anti-marriage and anti-family.

Until then, keep wondering why you're fighting a losing battle.