DUMPING ON MEN AGAIN

Here we go again: disparaging men and masculinity. I am really growing to hate the expression "toxic masculinity." Why are the male traits of men and boys "toxic"? And why are not more people asking that question publicly?

The most recent article I have seen in the popular press comes from the UK's Daily Mail:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-9555219/Mens-toxic-masculinity-comes-lack-strong-friendships-not-fathers-study-finds.html

This report of so-called "research" from Australia claims, "The biggest indicator was the nature of a [man's] friendships—the fewer [he] had, the more likely [he was] to be 'toxic.'"

Note first that the researchers have taken the leap from referring to masculinity as "toxic" to labeling individual men as "toxic." Seeing that make my antennae go up and helped me identify various anti-male biases in the article.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Actor Benedict Cumberbatch did a disappearing act from the WandaVision finale because Marvel honchos didn’t want a “white guy” stealing the show, a top studio boss said in a new interview.

Cumberbatch, who has previously played sorcerer Dr. Strange in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, was originally set to make a cameo in the Disney+ show’s last episode,Rolling Stone reported Monday.

“Some people might say, ‘Oh, it would’ve been so cool to see Dr. Strange,’” Feige said. “But it would have taken away from Wanda, which is what we didn’t want to do. We didn’t want the end of the show to be commoditised to go to the next movie — here’s the white guy, ‘Let me show you how power works.’”'

Article here. Excerpt:

'But there has also been a backlash. Philosopher Elisabeth Badinter, a veteran universal feminist voice, denounced in an article for the Journal du Dimanche last September an emerging "hatred of men" and "warlike neofeminism".

When journalist and local politician Alice Coffin's essay "The Lesbian Genius" came out in September, there was an outcry among France's political class, mostly due to one passage.

"It's not enough to help one another, we have to erase (men) from our minds, from our pictures, from our representations," Coffin wrote.

Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo responded: "I've spent my life fighting for equal rights for women, not for supremacy, including of women over men."'

Article here. Excerpt:

'The recently-expanded child tax credit provision in the American Rescue Plan and the proposals in the American Families Plan are helpful and necessary steps to address child poverty, which has grown during the Covid-19 pandemic after years of decline. But to get at the root causes of child poverty, we need to address a key gap in our systems and policies and look at interventions that engage dads and support co-parenting for unmarried mothers and fathers. And I make that assertion from experience.

Twenty years ago, I started Good+ Foundation, aimed at helping kids and families in need, initially in New York, and eventually nationally. At first, we focused on mothers, who overwhelmingly bear the brunt of child care. But as we grew in communities across the country, we learned that to be successful in achieving our mission, we needed to engage and involve fathers. Simply put, where they're included in social programs, policies and legislation, we see better outcomes for kids -- and for mothers.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'As part of its “Ethnic Studies Initiative,” Santa Clara County, California’s Office of Education recently lectured its teachers that the United States is a “parasitic” system which has led to “domestic violence, drug overdoses, and other social problems.”

The county’s teacher workshops were in preparation for implementation of the state’s new ethnic studies curriculum.

California approved the 900-page curriculum last month. Its overview section states oppression will be studied via the intersection(s) of “patriarchy, cisheteropatriarchy, exploitative economic systems, ableism, ageism, anthropocentrism, xenophobia, misogyny, antisemitism, anti-blackness, anti-indigeneity, Islamophobia, and transphobia.”'

Article here. Excerpt:

'A Chesterfield County teen was sentenced Wednesday to serve 35 years in prison for manipulating a close friend to kill a young Richmond man, two days after she claimed the man had raped her. The defendant, however, admitted after her conviction that she lied about a sexual assault.

At the end of a sentencing hearing in Chesterfield Circuit Court, Judge David E. Johnson sentenced Anayah Naree Daily to 60 years in prison with 25 years suspended for murder in the April 29, 2018, shooting of 19-year-old Breland Poole. Daily was 16 at the time of the killing; she turned 19 last week.

“The reckless disregard for human life displayed by the defendant in coaxing the victim to the scene, aiming the triggerman at him and bringing about his murder [occurred] just as surely as if she had stood by the car and pulled the trigger herself,” Johnson said from the bench.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'The Biden administration has asked the Supreme Court to let Congress resolve the potential constitutional problem of a male-only draft.

President Joe Biden’s Acting Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar filed a legal brief Wednesday in a case that is challenging whether the current male-only Selective Service System, which requires only that men ages 18 to 25 register for a potential military draft, is unconstitutional.

In the brief, Prelogar said that since Congress is considering requiring women to sign up as well, the high court should let the legislative branch resolve the question.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Sky News host Rita Panahi says we are seeing “cultural Marxism in action” after Year 11 schoolboys were “shamed” for their gender, religion, and skin colour during a talk on privilege and pronouns.

“Parents are rightly appalled … it’s the culmination of the long march through the institutions that began decades ago,” she said.

The schoolboys, from Parkdale Secondary College, were subjected to a “racist, sexist, and religiously intolerant tirade” in the name of “equality and diversity," according to Ms Panahi.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'A UK primary school is trying to stop sexism being ingrained into young children by banning language that differentiates genders in the classroom.

Anderton Park Primary, a public school in Birmingham north of London, is encouraging its students to call out teachers for “sexist” language, The Times reports.

Those phrases include “man up”, “grow a pair”, “bossy” and “boys don’t cry”.

Other phrases banned at the school are “let’s go, guys” and “boys and girls”.

Students who call out teachers for sexist comments are rewarded with a certificate.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Male teachers and boys must be taught about sexism to support women and girls facing sexual harassment and abuse, a union conference has been told.

The National Education Union’s (NEU) annual conference heard that a “toxic laddish culture” pervades the country’s secondary schools and sexism “stalks the corridors and classrooms”.

A motion passed at the conference said schools should have “robust sexual harassment and abuse policies” in place so teachers and students felt safe.
...
Delegates voted for male teachers and boys to learn about sexism and its roots – and to develop methods to challenge their peers – in order to “proactively support women and girls”.

Richard Rieser, from Hackney in east London, called on men to “own up and take responsibility” for sexism.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Students at a Melbourne high school have been left shocked after they were made to stand up and be publicly humiliated for being white, Christian males.

Last Wednesday, co-ed school Parkdale Secondary College, in the south Melbourne suburb of Mordialloc, was visited by a social worker from the local Kingston Council.

The social worker spoke about privilege, pronouns and intersectionality.

During the presentation, the social worker is alleged to have asked for boys who were straight, white and Christian to stand up in front of their peers.

They were then told they were responsible for being “oppressors” because of their privilege.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'A WOMAN barrister who cried rape in a plot to frame her lover after she discovered he was married has been given a life sentence.

Oxford lawyer Anisah Ahmed set up an ‘evil’ campaign of lies, falsely claiming she was raped as well as staging her own kidnapping and stabbing, a judge heard this morning.

The twisted plot began in 2014 when qualified barrister Ahmed, of Wilkins Road, Cowley, found out her lover, fellow barrister Iqbal Mohammed, was married.

Sitting at Oxford Crown Court, Judge Michael Gledhill QC said: "It appears that Ahmed had no idea that Mohammed was married.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'An accusation need not be demonstrably false (false to fact), to be petty and unjust. Men’s vulnerability to false accusations is clear, but we must also consider men’s outsized vulnerability to dubious accusations.

Granted, the vast majority of women are far too sensible to damage a man over trifles. But then there’s the particular woman Jerold Mackenzie ran into.

On the morning of March 19, 1993, [Jerold] Mackenzie was talking to coworker Patricia Best, the distributor services manager, about a Seinfeld episode that aired the night before. Mackenzie asked her if she saw it; she did not. He told Best that Seinfeld’s date had a name that rhymed with a part of a woman’s anatomy and asked her to guess what rhymed with Delores. Best could not. Mackenzie apparently did not want to use the term “clitoris,” so he copied the page from the dictionary with the definition and showed it to Best.[i]

Article here. Excerpt:

'There could be some potential changes to men-only military draft registration, but how it could be accomplished is a different story.

Both the Biden Administration and the National Coalition for Men are calling for the men-only military draft registration to include women, and for some veterans like Jeffery Yarvis, it’s a welcome change.

“In a time of war, if our nation’s sovereignty is at risk and we need to expand our services, why not let anybody that wants to serve, serve and use this great capability that we already have in the voluntary system,” he said.
...
While it’s unlikely the Supreme Court would make such a ruling, Texas A&M Central Texas Political Science Professor John Koehler says any change would take a while without an executive action.

“I think legislators on their own would resist any firm actions on this issue, but I think if the Biden Administration choose to press and push for it, that’s the only way this would move forward,” he said.

Article here. Excerpt:

'The agreement – signed shortly after International Women's Day – was signed by Professor Colin Bailey, Queen Mary’s President and Principal, and Daniel Valdez-Delgadillo, Principal of the Autonomous University of Baja California (UABC).

The Dual MRes in Science and Engineering will be hosted by the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences and supported by other schools in the faculty. The first cohort of students will start in September 2021, undertaking taught modules for a year at UABC as a pathway to joining Queen Mary for our year-only MRes, with the opportunity of obtaining a Queen Mary Master’s degree in Science and Engineering, as well as a UABC MRes.'