A man's world but nothing without a woman

A man's world but nothing without a woman or a girl:

If the Chinese are right when they say that women hold up half the sky, we may be in for trouble in the UAE.

It is well known that there is a serious gender imbalance in this country, thanks largely to the armies of imported construction workers needed to help build the nation’s skylines.

....It seems unlikely, therefore, that the economic slowdown will affect the nation’s safety. It does appear statistically certain, however, that growing numbers of lay-offs will convince at least some that desperate times call for desperate measures.

But the biggest concern may not be how the global crisis aggravates the surfeit of men; rather how it irritates our shortage of women.

Regardless of whether men start fist fights in shawarma stalls or stage riots over parking, no city can be considered civilised without a feminine touch.

...men behave much better when there are women about. They are more likely to use footpaths for cafes instead of overflow parking, for example, or yield to pedestrians at zebra crossings instead of cutting them in half with their sports cars.
Economists note that population loss may be one of the biggest risks to the UAE’s economy. It could be argued further that losing one woman has more economic impact than losing one man. Many of the women leaving the UAE, after all, are married to men who have lost their jobs.
When they leave, they take with them not only their power over the purse strings, but the spending needs of their children.
http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090318/BUSINESS/259439802/1058&templ...