In a world where women evolved to self-reproduceand men are relegated to the minority, the youngest man in the world choosesbetween continuing his obligations as a servant or following his heart despitethe entire world being against him. In a backyard garden, Andrew shows the plantsthat he’s tending to. During an interview, he admits he doesn’t see himself as someonespecial despite the circumstances of his birth, and it’s not something he’s ashamed or proud of.He goes about his day, pouring himself coffee while watching the news.His employer, Terra, is also interviewed. After almost 3 years of working forthem, she’s come to value Andrew because of his good work ethic. She admits it’s difficultfinding men as domestic helpers, especially.
Since women’s wages are more expensive.Despite valuing him, Terra is concerned about Andrew’s presence around her daughters, forfear they’ll yearn for something they shouldn’t, vaguely referring to a man’s love.Over breakfast, Andrew caters to the kids’ needs before sending them off to school.Meanwhile, Iris, Terra’s partner, talks to the interviewer about how much she lovesAndrew’s presence around their children. She thinks it’s enriching for the kids tobe around someone who’s prime and active. Terra doesn’t share her views, but politely agreesfrom a historical viewpoint, hoping that in the future, their daughters and granddaughterscan give accurate firsthand accounts of what men are like, and Iris just sighs.Andrew discloses that at 37 years old,.
He’s the youngest man in the world.The odd phenomenon dates back to 1953. Back then, Father Ermanno was still a youngpriest assigned to the Vatican’s Congregation of the Causes for Saints, and they wereresponsible for extraordinary events that could be deemed divine miracles.One such event is immaculate conception, which boomed to 67 reported cases that year.Professor of men’s history, Ajala, narrates that the spike in fatherless pregnancies concerned theCatholic Church because a central tenet of their faith involves Christ’s immaculate conception.Gordon, a former professor of genetics, argued there was no way to scientificallyvalidate the fatherless pregnancies. At the time, the best they could do is provethat a man isn’t the child’s father,.
But they can’t conclude there was no father. After all, humans require copulation to reproduce, so the only logical explanationis that the women were lying. One of those mothers is Helen, now anelderly woman. She recounts feeling pregnant, an impossibility considering she hasn’t beenintimate with her husband Richard for a year. When the doctor confirmed her pregnancy, Richardassumed her supposed infidelity. Helen would eventually be vindicated decades later, butin the 1950s, no one believed her and she was forcibly evicted from Richard’s house.Unsurprisingly, male politicians dismissed the claims as outlandish and impugned them towomen as being impressionable and hysterical. Professor Ajala noted that all men-rungovernments, regardless of their differences,.
Ignored the claim. To Gordon, those governments’behavior was understandable because the idea of self-fertilizing women threatened men’s egos.As Andrew hangs clothes and plays with the kids, he recognizes that his work isn’t foreveryone. Still, he’s excited about it, and that’s something not many guys can say.Dahlia, Terra’s daughter, also admires Andrew for his fun and caring personality. Iffathers were still a thing, she’d love to have him for her baby daughter, Violet.Dahlia also admits she finds him handsome. This is now the third household Andrew’sworked for, but he finds this the most challenging because he’s lookingafter six kids of varying ages. Still, he likes keeping himself busy, such as puttingViolet to sleep while everyone eats dinner..
While Terra coaches her daughter’s soccer team,Andrew lags behind, lugging the women’s items. He remarks that working for women you like makesthe job easier, and he finds that Iris’ easygoing and kind attitude keeps him at ease. However, he keeps a low profile around the more conservative, by-the-book Terra,preferring instead to stay out of her way. It’s a good reminder that regardless ofhis attachments, he’s just an employee. While watching the practice, two elderly mennamed Jim and Reggie approach Andrew. They’re having fun talking about their employers,but their laughter annoys a teenager. She marches up to them and demands theyfollow the rules against congregating in groups of more than two. Andrew, wanting to avoidconflict, backs off despite Jim’s protests..
Andrew admits he’d be a pilot or anarchitect if things were different, but he makes the most of the opportunities hehas because things are unlikely to change. The women lament how their claims weren’ttaken seriously and how men never listened. But Professor Ajala notes that anger wassimmering beneath the women’s calm exterior. Everything erupted with Sister Isabella’scase. Despite living in a secluded and remote convent far from men, she got pregnant. The Church, concerned that her giving birth to a daughter challenges the Biblical narrative,wanted nothing to do with her. Father Ermanno claimed the church thought it was for the best.Surprisingly, the nuns broke their silence, and soon, news about Sister Isabella’s fatherlesspregnancy sparked an uprising. Women demanded.
The government acknowledge the phenomenon.This forced the UN to investigate the claims in 1955, despite science’s vehement rejection.Professor Ajala discusses that women seized power from the dominant men. The womenwent on a strike after individually deciding that they had had enough. Gordon recounts this moment when his mother headed out without making dinner. Richardswallowed his pride and asked Helen to come back, but she suddenly realized she didn’t want to.On the subject of art, Terra discusses her love for Iris’ paintings, butshe doesn’t like Iris’ current phase of painting Andrew doing mundane tasks.Concerned about “manlessness,” or the reduced number of men in the world, Iris paints Andrewto keep the issue alive despite these paintings.
Not selling. She claims she’s not obsessed withAndrew as it’s just a part of her process, while she discreetly snaps photos of him from a window.Painting him is natural thanks to him always being around, and he sometimes helps her withthe chores. Iris wants to capture Andrew’s spirit in her paintings, the same spiritthat her grandma loved about her grandpa, but Terra looks annoyed at the topic.Meanwhile, Dahlia shows her sketches of Andrew for her art class. She reveals beinginterested in his body, especially his arms. Gordon narrates that when fatherless pregnanciesincreased and normal pregnancies decreased, the world accepted the development asparthenogenesis, or self-reproduction. When it happened with humans, spermatozoa becameobsolete and incapable of penetrating egg cells,.
Even through artificial insemination, henceall self-fertilized embryos are female. It was a while before Andrew wasconfirmed to be the last male. In school, he got unwanted attention and found women’slack of attraction to him challenging. When he graduated high school, he realized hewon’t get the opportunities women enjoy. When Eleanor Hamilton became the first femalePresident of the United States in 1965, she initiated governance motivated by women wantingpayback. A major policy was established in 1967 where men were replaced by equally qualified butmore capable women, resulting in mass layoffs. Not feeling welcome, men moved torural encampments in an exodus, but when it became clear women were doingjust fine, an organization for male liberation.
Called MLO refused the new world order.Their leader, Darius, intended to regain men’s lost power and respect, but whenthey protested, it resulted in violence from angry women who were suffering from PMS. By 1975, with women’s population taking ¾ of the world, their menstrual cycles startedsynchronizing. MLO men contended that, soon, women’s minds will alsosynchronize and form a hive mind. Despite the protest’s futility, Professor Ajalanoted it still resulted in a three-day monthly holiday that occurred after the world united.The protests were the first challenge to the World Governing Council (WGC).Listening to the men’s plight, the WGC allocated male sanctuaries across theworld where men will be provided with food and.
Entertainment. There, men will live their livescomfortably while respecting nature’s choice. Although Darius claims the sanctuarieswon’t change men’s resolve, the MLO didn’t do anything. Darius still says they’replanning their resurgence, but after 25 years, the MLO still never made a move.Gordon criticizes that MLO’s central goal can’t be achieved because the governmentsees manlessness as nature’s act rather than a problem. The government even replaced God witha religion based on believing in nature. Continuing, he also points out that humanityeradicated diseases, which are also nature’s acts. Although, he quickly clarifies he’s notinsinuating that the WGC is actively ignoring manlessness to achieve their political goals.Darius views women as short-term thinkers.
Incapable of strategic planning, especially afterthey scrapped the defense department and halted space exploration. He believes true progressrequires conflict and considers heterosexual romance as one of its forms.While grocery shopping, Andrew admitted that he thinks he’s thereason why no man was born after him. Professor Ajala remarks that a dominanttheory will emerge about men’s extinction and become the conventional wisdom. To manywomen, that theory appears to be evolution because they consider men unnecessary and theirextinction as penance for corroding the planet. An MLO member speculates that in 1952,a near-earth object spurred fatherless pregnancies and considers the women as alienshijacking humanity’s reproductive systems. Gordon.
Explains that men’s Y chromosomescan’t protect against mutations. By 1994, men gathered in a sanctuary wereconvinced the government ignores manlessness. They vow to return to power and solve the problem,but their resolve is derailed when they learn the women prepared tenderloin for dinner.As Andrew finishes shopping, he realizes he has survivor’s guilt that resurfaceswhen he notices other men look at him. Terra is ambivalent about manlessnessbecause the men weren’t eradicated on purpose. She likens men’s extinction to thedeath of a rock band’s last living member, an analogy Iris finds utterly absurd.Author Dakota signs her book on intimate relationships among women. Once men die,society won’t need the word “gender,” but.
Not having gender doesn’t mean not havingthe need for intimacy. Without intimacy, families disintegrate, dooming society.The WGC doesn’t accept this position as it’s full of conservatives fearing male resurgence. Theyeven have ads informing mothers about discouraging daughters who discover self-gratification.Linnea, WGC’s Communications Director, clarifies that while waiting for nature toremove reproductive urges, they need to ensure women aren’t caught up in futile pleasures. Dahlia says women aren’t supposed to know about traditional reproduction, and are taught notto give in to urges. Since it’s psychological, it’s better to not act on them.Instead of pointless urges, the WGC encourages other forms of intimacy,so women grow up believing in love. .
Olive reveals that while she gets along withher best friend, she’s unsure whether to spend the rest of their lives together.As Terra reminisces about being with Iris since 11th grade, she’s hurt when Irisdismisses it as proof that she can partner with anyone without being intimate. WhenIris emphasizes that Terra is just a friend, Terra hints at wanting a deeper bond with her.Iris points out that men still exist, such as Andrew, whom she’s very fond of.Jealous, Terra asks for a short break and excuses herself from the interview. Outside, Terra weeps by the garden and admits hoping Iris and Andrew’sthing was just a harmless flirtation, but now, it’s clear the two are intimate.In the kitchen, Iris says it just happened.
The more time she spent with Andrew. Shewalks away, knowing everything’s changed between the three of them.Betrayed, Terra claims Iris loves being mysterious, but she neverexpected her to actually be crooked. Outside, Andrew assures Iris everythingwill be alright, but unbeknownst to them, the daughters see them kiss. Hurt by what she’switnessing, Dahlia walks toward the house. When Terra sees what her daughters arelooking at, she hurriedly leads them inside. Linnea knows some women are stillattracted to men, but for the best, WGC banned heterosexual unions andencourages men to stay in the sanctuaries, so the women can focus on their evolution.The sanctuaries themselves are huge,.
Open areas with no electric fencing as men areno longer interested in escaping. Back then, men often wander, hungry for female contact,but border patrol agents hunt them down and take them back to a nearby sanctuary.Darius considers this treatment degrading. While animals are protected, men are instead shunned.During the 1998 MLO press conference, Darius shows evidence that their food is lacedwith estrogen to suppress their drive. Hence, they went on a hunger strike to preventwomen from taking their dignity. Gordon surmises that capableWGC scientists injected synthetic estrogen without being detected.Eventually, the MLO ended their hunger strike after only 1.5 days because they needed to eat.Darius doesn’t consider the strike a failure,.
As their continued consumption constantlyreminds the world of WGC’s injustices. However, Linnea confirms they stopped addingestrogen in 2008 as aging now naturally suppresses men’s drives. Darius doesn’t believeit, although he looks concerned about his age. In the aftermath of the affair’sreveal, Andrew moves out of the house. People wrongly assume that just becausehe’s the youngest man, he’s involved in pro-male causes. He clarifies he’s not anactivist and that just isn’t who he is. Andrew places his luggage in the taxi asthe family watches. Iris leaves him with one last look before heading back inside.It’s now impossible for them to be together as the government won’t allow it. Plus, theirintimacy reflects poorly on his work record..
Three weeks later, Andrew’s work permitis revoked, and he’s sent to a sanctuary. Although he doesn’t think it’s a terribleplace, it still feels like a prison. He’s unable to enjoy himself because his mind isalways with Iris. The other men have gotten used to the sanctuary, but that’s becausethey have no reason to return, unlike him. As Olive celebrates her first period, things inTerra and Iris’ household aren’t the same. Their relationship can’t recover because Terrafeels betrayed, and the kids miss Andrew, especially Dahlia. Iris tried moving on,but she can’t stop thinking about him. Andrew considers how depressing spendinghis whole life in the sanctuary is, like sitting in a sinking ship. Thesethoughts prod him to do something..
He decides to leave despite the challenges. Inthe dark of night, he ran as fast as he could, eventually reaching the waiting Iris on theroad. He didn’t think she received his message and showed up, but there she was. They drive away, but consider the implications of their actions. Whilenone of what they want is possible, living in hiding isn’t an option. If they wantthings to change, they need to instigate it. And so, Andrew resurfaced, his hands entwined withIris’, and they held a press conference. Together, they make a shocking request: theright to marry and bear children. To make this a reality, they seek backingfrom the scientific community and the WGC. Iris also invites other womenattracted to men to also speak out..
Professor Ajala notes that their action sparkedsupportive demonstrations and allowed other women to admit they also like men. Some women argueit’s beneath them to just let men die off. The WGC assures everyone thatthey’re taking the calls for action seriously through emergencymeetings to consider solutions. Miraculously, through everyone’s opinionsand support, Andrew and Iris were allowed to legally wed each other in a private ceremony.They captivated the world’s attention after Iris was successfully artificiallyinseminated and is now with child. Terra tries being supportive, thinkingthat it might also be good for the world if Iris bears a boy, but she personallydislikes the idea of bearing a male baby..
The artificial insemination worked after thegovernment managed to trick the egg into accepting the sperm by disguising it as an X chromosome.Helen wishes people were this excited when she was pregnant, but she’s also happy aboutthe news because she dislikes the idea of men going extinct. Although, she admitsmen needed the scare of near-extinction. Darius takes credit, claiming their long gamepaid off, and now the men have returned. Iris feels like being pregnant for the firsttime and she’s excited. but Andrew breaks the sweet moment by hoping the baby’s not agirl, earning him a weird look from Iris. He tries to recover, but she stays silent,and the interview ends on an awkward note.
Will girls folk fabricate roads? Will they mine for coal? Will they fabricate skyscrapers?
What an engaging memoir. By reading the title I changed into waiting for a comedy, however this memoir goes grand deeper than that by integrating how such a ingredient may well certainly impact society.
O pricey, the ending serene ended uncertain it appears.