There it was: the umpteenth TV commercial featuring a woman doing the housework. You fill in the brand: PAM, Tide, McCormick’s, or even hip Target — all relegate women to that subsidiary role of “happy homemaker.” You would think the Renaissance thinkers in advertising could come up with something more enlightening.

That enlightenment might include reviewing “A Woman’s Nation” — a recent report authored by Maria Shriver and the Center for American Progress, whose first paragraph is telling:

“Earlier this year, the Center for American Progress decided to closely examine the consequences of what we thought was a major tipping point in our nation’s social and economic history: the emergence of working women as primary breadwinners for millions of families at the same time that their presence on America’s payrolls grew to comprise fully half the nation’s workforce.”

This whirlwind of change is being propelled by the growing power of women, which traces its roots to the first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, N.Y. in 1848, but which got a big shot in the arm when Lucy Stone became the first woman to keep her own name after marriage in 1855 (see Timeline at end of story).

That the role of women has changed materially since the days so well-portrayed in such movies as Revolutionary Road is crystal clear. Yet, as The Shriver report duly notes, “What today’s 8-to-19-year-olds are taking in about the role of men and women in the workplace and society through the lens of various media…could affect the life and career choices of our next generation.”

Those career choices are multiplying daily. In India, the navy has now stationed its first female airborne tacticians, a move that places women squarely in combat roles. In the U.S., Kayla Kelly wants to be among the first women to serve on a U.S. Navy submarine.

In her concession speech, U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton used a pointed analogy to describe the ascent of women: “Although we weren’t able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you it has about 18 million cracks in it and the light is shining through like never before.”

The rising clout of the female gender is being propelled by an Ubertrend we’ve dubbed the “Woman’s Acceptance’s Factor” — a play on “WAF” — a 90s online phenomenon that’s a subtrend of this female uprising. The Woman’s Acceptance Factor is reshaping society in a number of ways:

• Education — At colleges nationwide, women are walking off with a disproportionate share of honors degrees. That’s due to the fact that women now make up 58% of those enrolled in two- and four-year colleges and are, overall, the majority in graduate schools and professional schools too. Moreover, in two national studies, college men reported they studied less and socialized more than their female classmates. As a result, women now receive 52% of all high school diplomas, 62% of associate’s degrees, 57% of bachelor’s degrees and 50% of doctoral degrees and professional degrees.
• Workforce — Women, for the first time, make up half (49.9% as of July 2009) of all workers on U.S. payrolls, reports The Shriver Report. This is a major shift from just over a generation ago. In 1969, women made up only a third of the workforce (35.3%), based on Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
• Breadwinners — Only one in five families with children (20.7%) is made up of a traditional male breadwinner and female homemaker, compared to 44.7% in 1975, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. In 1975, 4 in 10 mothers with a child under age 6 (39.6%) worked outside the home, but by 2008, that share had risen to two-thirds (64.3%), according to an analysis by the Minnesota Population Center. A study, released in 2006, suggests that a full-time stay-at-home mother would earn $134,121 a year if paid for all her work.
• Work equality — While the typical full-time woman worker brings home 77 cents on the dollar compared to her male colleagues, the gender gap has narrowed – it was 59 cents on the dollar in the early 70s. Yet according a 2008 census by Catalyst, only 15.7% of Fortune 500 officers and 15.2 percent of directors were women. Unfortunately, the rising power of women has also fostered a negative side effect. Fully 40% of workplace bullies are now women, according to the Workplace Bullying Institute. And while male bullies intimidate men and women equally, women choose other women as targets more than 70% of the time.
• Home life — Nearly all U.S. women, or 94%, are satisfied with their lives and ability to balance multiple roles and responsibilities, but only half of married/partnered women, or 51%, are satisfied with their sex lives, while 49% are satisfied with the division of labor at home, according to a Meredith/NBC Universal survey.
• Purchase influence — Boston Consulting Group estimates that women control $4.3 trillion of the $5.9 trillion in U.S. consumer spending, or 73% of household spending. In his book “Re-imagine!” Tom Peters suggests that U.S. women also control about $1.5 trillion more in business outlays. And that influence extends substantially outside of traditional “housekeeping” items, judging from the number of “WAF” online discussion threads. WAF was popularized by the Home Theater Spot, which provided men with a discussion forum for obtaining advice on how to obtain their better half’s approval before, or heaven forbid after, acquiring new gear. Humorously entitled “The Wife Acceptance Factor — Not in my house,” these online discussions provide an unusually intimate glimpse into the changing consumer landscape. The WAF phenomenon cogently illustrates just how much decision-making power women have gained at home.

The Woman’s Acceptance’s Factor is spreading globally. NPR reports that in many Asian countries husbands hand their earnings to women who give them a small allowance. The phenomenon even has its own saying: “A woman is a slave before marriage, but a general after.”

Yet the world of TV commercials, and Hollywood movies to a lesser extent, continue to subjugate women as “housekeepers.” Never mind that the new president of Chile is Michelle Bachelet, or that Oprah is media’s most powerful figure, or that female high-school teachers are zeroing in on their young, male targets with a zeal characteristic of men. And what about the parallel “cougar” trend?

The media frenzy accompanying the cougar phenomenon, which is a role reversal of sorts that has older women chasing younger men, has significantly reshaped the opinions of the sexuality of older women in society. Why there’s even a Cougar Convention planned for the fourth quarter of 2010 in Las Vegas.

“Heading South,” a tale about older single women visiting 1970’s Haiti in a female version of sex tourism, drew big crowds to theaters in 2006, and preceded society’s current fascination with “cougars.”

From the look of things, the Woman’s Acceptance Factor is truly shattering the glass ceiling. Now if only Madison Avenue would revisit this shifting landscape and begin casting men in home-keeping roles, we could all enjoy more pleasurable pursuits.

Woman’s Acceptance Factor Trend Gallery
Below are more phenomena that emanate from the WAF Ubertrend.

No one rose to national prominence faster than Debra LaFave, a Florida school teacher who was convicted of sleeping with a young high school student. A woman acting like a man? A sure sign of the times.

In the 60s the “Rat Pack” ruled Las Vegas. Today’s pack is four young women: Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan and Nicole Richie. And don’t let outward appearances deceive you, because these women have already created far more havoc than Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and crew ever did.

The consumer electronics industry is finally taking notice of the growing purchasing power of women and their concomitant WAF influence. Makers of electronics gadgets are designing products that appeal more to women, relying on sculpted designs that are less boxy and feature a broader color selection than the “I want to have it in black” male atmosphere that usually rules this marketplace.

Women are infiltrating all kinds of sports formerly reserved for men. Danica Patrick won the Indianapolis 500 “Rookie of the Year” award in 2005, when she burst onto the car racing scene.

Woman’s Acceptance Factor Time Line

Source: Dec. 2009 Ubercool Inc.

They stand in long lines eager to gain entry into one of the city’s celebrated nightclubs. Once they slip by those over-sized 350-pound doormen, they line up again at the bar, where they usually wait three-deep for a chance to scream orders at bartenders who make hundreds of $10 cocktails hourly. Welcome to Tao Las Vegas. Welcome to Generation X-tasy.

It could have been any city. Just fill in your favorite DJ-hosted affair. Clubbing has replaced traditional watering holes. In Chicago, the number of taverns plummeted from 7,000 in 1947 to just 1,321 today, as nightclubs redefined the entertainment experience.

And how could they possibly compete with Tao? Its 60,000-square-foot interior features a 20-foot golden Buddha, and enough stylish, scantily clad people gyrating on the dance floor to provide copious eye candy for any of the 600,000 annual diners who spend $70 on average per meal.

Immersive experiences have become de rigueur for attracting thrill-seeking patrons. In fact, Tao Las Vegas at the Venetian Hotel, is the highest grossing independent restaurant in the U.S., according to Restaurants & Institutions magazine, which has been ranking the top 100 for 24 years. In 2006, its first full year of operation, Tao netted $55.2 million, or $16 million more than its closest competitor, New York’s Tavern on the Green.

The experiential restaurant trend began in Amsterdam, where in 1990 supperclub began combining dining with exotic theatrical performances — the serving staff are accomplished artists — plus art, all enjoyed from the comfort of your own bed, ushering in two dining trends that would spread globally.

In September 2005, San Francisco became first U.S. outpost of Amsterdam’s supperclub, featuring performers like “Fauxnique,” who add spice to the dining experience. (Photo courtesy: Colin Vincent for supperclub S.F.)

Generation X-tasy can be traced as far back as the bible, but a modern-day milestone was Nevada’s 1931 legalization of gambling. Gambling revenues boosted Las Vegas’ status as America’s Mecca of adult entertainment — reinforced by its telling tagline, “What happens in Las Vegas, stays in Las Vegas,” a motto that has become a pop culture icon of sorts.

If Las Vegas is the capital of Generation X-tasy then Steve Wynn is surely its chairman. When Wynn opened the Mirage in 1987, he single-handedly put Las Vegas on its current course of palatial excess. The crown title now belongs to The Venetian, which with its 3,025-room The Palazzo wing is the world’s largest hotel with a jaw-dropping 7,074 rooms.

“Moderation is a fatal thing,” Oscar Wilde wrote in an 1893 play. “Nothing succeeds like excess.” Were Wilde alive today, he would find plenty of evidence to support his prescient observation, and would be highly amused by that annual American ritual of Spring Break.

Each year, Cancun welcomes more than 100,000 visitors for Spring Break, which has transformed Cancun’s nightlife. In many U.S. seaside communities, Spring Break has actually become a legal specialty as lawyers help bail out the many arrested “party animals.” That party culture even spilled over to the apparel business in 2005 when Ted Baker introduced the “Party Animal Tuxedo,” a spill-resistant tux for dressy imbibers.

The term “party animal” was elevated to a new cultural stature when apparel maker Ted Baker in 2005 launched the “Party Animal Tuxedo” — a spill-resistant tux lined with Teflon.

But Generation X-tasy rules far more than wanton excess. The cruise-line business has also experienced a sea-change shift, so to speak. Today, it’s not merely enough to provide passengers with comfortable sleeping quarters. Ships have become floating cities, replete with such eclectic attractions as a football-field-size version of Central Park, containing a town square with dining and entertainment, occupying five stories of the 16-deck “Project Genesis” ship, which is set to launch in 2010.

Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas will feature an amphitheater, called the AquaTheater, and a rock-climbing wall, able to provide outdoor entertainment to some of the ship’s 6,300 passengers, when it sets sail on December 12.

While the entertainment, travel and hospitality markets are most influenced by Generation X-tasy, the real estate market is also showing signs of adopting the trend. Joining such global gambling playgrounds as Las Vegas and Macau, the middle east is redefining itself through Dubai and up-and-coming Abu Dhabi.

Dubai’s man-made Palm Island, an island resembling a palm, quickly sold out, as home buyers fan around the globe in search for new experiences. Palm Island was able to draw such high-profile home buyers as David Beckham and Simon Cowell, who are part of a British contingent that makes up about 25% of the island’s 120,000 residents.

The Generation X-tasy Ubertrend is encouraging consumers to venture further away from home in search of new experiences, which explains why groundbreaking projects like Dubai’s Palm Island quickly sold out, mostly to foreigners.

Palm Island is but one real-estate project that has its eyes set on luxury buyers. The Generation X-tasy Ubertrend is chiefly responsible for propelling a global luxury market that reached $270 billion in 2008, according to Bain & Co., and is spurring a “price is no object” trend that has led to $2 million automobiles like the Bugatti Veyron or $62,000 lipstick from Guerlain.

The luxury set likes to stay in opulent quarters and it has found a ready supply of hoteliers who cater to them. The Ritz-Carlton Moscow opened its doors in July 2007 featuring the three-Michelin-star Jeroboam restaurant, which boasts a private wine room offering a $68,000 bottle of ’61 Grand Cru. A mere $600 gets you a “nightlife butler,” who helps guests avoid velvet ropes while exploring Moscow’s electric nightclub scene.

The overdoing it trend has also led to a peculiar new phenomenon: eating contests. Who could have ever imagined that someone might be able to consume 66 hot dogs, or more than 20,000 calories, in 12 minutes flat? Nathan’s International Hot Dog Eating Contest, which draws participants from all over the world who vie for its gluttony title, is perhaps one of the best barometers for societal excess.

Experiential can also be harrowing, like when it arrives in the form of “Parkour” — an acrobatic sport that originated in the streets of Paris and that was featured in Madonna’s “Jump” music video. Participants run and vault through an urban jungle equipped with nothing more than a pair of running shoes, bouncing off walls, jumping over roofs and using any human-built obstacle as part of their parcours (circuit).

Parkour is an urban sport designed for Generation X-tasy: it involves racing through the urban landscape and using any obstacle as a springboard.

Dangerous sports, and we won’t even delve into the extreme fighting trend, are expressive elements of the Generation X-tasy Ubertrend. From the startling edifices of Dubai to the cavernous castles of Las Vegas to the “Fantasy Island” flavor of today’s theme parties, Generation X-tasy is driven by a need to stand out.

And the need to stand out gets greater with each introduction of something even more remarkable, something more extraordinary. It’s a trend that’s best illustrated every time someone sighs, with classic signs of ennui, “been there, done that.”