The categories of "man" and "woman" used to be like two boxes covered with stick-on labels.

On the male box was pasted: Career. Don't show weakness. Be competitive! Act like you know everything. Succeed at all costs! Ignore your health. Accomplishment. Perseverance. Dominate. Don't show emotion.

On the female box was written: Family. Be gentle and quiet. Take care of your looks. Fragility. Stand by your man-unconditionally. Don't be smarter than men! Put the needs of others ahead of yours. Children are a woman's greatest joy!

Those who conformed most closely to the labels were "good" men and women. From these labels, moreover, it was clear who was on top, who should obey whom, who should get greater respect from whom.

But in recent years, especially in the last decade, women have been tearing up their labels and rewriting the rules. Today, women can be in charge in both the home and the office; they can shape both their children and their firms.

As women have rewritten their gender characteristics, some reassessment has been made of the male box. It has been discovered that this rigid box has not only crushed women and children under it, it has also deformed men-those allegedly advantaged by it. It has stifled their emotions, destroyed their health, reduced the happiness they get out of daily life, and made them lonely and violent.

Although relations between the sexes were not equal in the past, there was a working relationship and a certain uneasy peace. Now that the Pandora's box has been opened, all the old dogmas, rules, and stereotypes have been trashed, and open warfare has begun. Gender discrimination in politics, economics, society, law, and in the workplace has been exposed to the public eye.

Meanwhile, behind the veil of family life, even more blood has been flowing. In America, the second most important cause of serious injury to adults is husbands beating their wives (behind only men getting into fights with each other). In the UK, in 72% of cases in which women have successfully filed for divorce, the reason has been improper behavior by their husbands.

In Taiwan, meanwhile, the Awakening Foundation produced its own list of the seven leading causes of divorce in Taiwan, based on the 4367 civil-law related inquiries it received last year. They are, first, domestic violence by the husband (43%), followed by extramarital affairs by the husband, failure of the husband to provide economic support, debts incurred by the husband, abandonment by the husband, and gambling and alcohol abuse by the husband. As for sexual abuse and sex crimes, most people believe that, beyond the official figures, there is an unknowable number that is higher than most people might imagine.

A growing number of people are tired of this adversarial relationship, and want to negotiate a peaceful settlement. For example, people might try trading places with their partners to understand better how the world looks in the other person's shoes. This is how the "new man" and "new woman" have come into being.

In the future, the two sexes will have to constantly change and adapt. There will probably be "new new men" and "new new women," followed by "new new new. . . ." What will they be like? Is this the kind of future we want? Let's take a look.