As we enter the activism phase of the Men's Health America campaign to draw attention to the abuse of Afghan men's human rights, we are asked in this MHA posting to contact the organization Human Rights Watch, which claims on their web site that "Women have borne the lion's share of human rights abuses in Afghanistan throughout the conflict" (see here). The statement ignores the brutalization of Afghan men and wrongly turns the issue into one where we discount the suffering of half the population. Please contact HRW and ask them to correct this.

Neil Steyskal submitted this article about a new Irish suicide study that outlined the stark gender differences in suicides: "five times more men died from suicide than women, and 40% of the deaths were men aged 30 or under...The report recommended specific health strategies for men, and they needed greater encouragement in accessing health services."

In her weekly Fox News and ifeminists.com column, Wendy McElroy eloquently tackles the hotly debated issue of El Dildo Bandito's (aka Bob Rowan) recent taking down of 21 ceramic penises from the Boulder Public Library. Likewise, I have written this piece, my personal masculist perspective, on the events surrounding Mr. Rowan. I am ashamed to admit that Wendy, ever-vigiliant, managed to mention both the recent YWCA hate campaign against boys and mensactivism.org in her piece, while I merely railed against taxpayer supported hate speech expression. Both these columns are also available directly off ifeminists.com, mine being a guest editorial for the week.

In a surprising move by the Hawaii Supreme Court, that state's version of Megan's Law (a law many states have adopted which requires sex offenders to register with an official registry, and to announce their presence in neighborhoods) has been struck down as unconstitutional. This article in the Fresno Bee explains. The court said that the law violates due process by not allowing those charged with sex crimes to present a defense. Hawaii's willingness to scrutinize Megan's Law for due process violations is a step in the right direction for those who fear false accusations.

Marc Angelucci writes "This opinion article from the LA Times gives us yet another imbalanced perspective on gender and the Afgan war. It emphasizes human rights. But it only mentions gender when it comes to women, as usual. It even refers to "women and civilians," as though "civilians" would not do, and as though male soldiers who are forced to fight are somehow less innocent. They printed my letter on this two weeks ago, so I can't write again for a while. But they do print letters from other states, so please write them at letters@latimes.com." Also of note, Neil Steyskal writes "The Christian Science Monitor published a letter from Cary Roberts about Afghan men. Thanks Carey!"

The third and final Special Report from Men's Health America has been released, and can be read here. This one focuses on the way Amnesty International, a leading human rights watch organization, has expressed its own bias against men. Keep the letters going, folks - there's a success story which will appear on this site in an hour or so.

I feel that the time is ripe to write something about how we as a movement should give some thought to public relations and how to help increase our numbers in the men's movement. I would like to ask every reader of Mensactivism.org to take a moment to read this article and reflect on it, and tell me what you think. I don't pretend to have all the answers, but I think it's time for a discussion on the following topic. Click "Read More" below for the text...

Regulars here at Mensactivism will probably love this article, so I'll ask you a quick question: Have you ever wondered what would happen if a hardcore feminist looked long and hard in the mirror about their beliefs and said what they saw? You don't have to wonder anymore as viewing this link shows you the results, and the honesty is quite surprising and refreshing at the same time. I was gonna give a quote, but where's the fun in that? Read it, it's a rare find.

frank h writes "I found this article courtesy of David Limbaugh (Rush's brother) in his most recent article here. I don't even have the time to get angry about this one, but it's more psycho-babble about how children are better off if dad's don't really KNOW if their children are really theirs." Something tells me that the field of evolutionary psychology has a long way to go...

Neil Steyskal writes "Sunday the Washington Post published a major article advocating political preferences for Afghan women. Comment to: letters@washpost.com. The Christian Science Monitor has also editorialized in favor of special programs for Afghan women. Comment to: oped@csps.com."

Les Farkas found this offensive ad in a recent issue of Chicago Magazine. Needless to say, this is another issue worth writing in to protest. Les writes, "[Montauk was] so smugly satisfied with the ad that they showcase it on their homepage...This kind of advertising creates a climate where men can be systematically ridiculed and put in their place. The ad reinforces this kind attitude in women." Click Read More for contact information where you can send your opinion of this. Given that the ad is so outrageous, I think we have a chance of effecting some change. Kudos to Les for initiating this project.

Here's a conflicting article
From Fox News, I say conflicting because in one-way men are glorified for putting their lives on the line to help others, and on the other hand praised for being open with their emotions. For example in the article Liz Quilty says "Not just because they are the picture of strength and masculinity, but also because they've done the hardest, most noble job of all, which is to put their own lives second to others." and then Nancy Kirsch says "There is also an inner strength shown. Men on television are welling up and crying, but it doesn't mean they aren't strong ... my gosh, it is the opposite." Can you see the culture clash now? Keep your eyes on this one, it's bound to evolve into something interesting.

Men's Health America released a second special report on the neglect of Afghan men's human rights. This time, the focus is on the United Nations, which has spoken out on many occasions against the treatment of Afghan women, but neglected men. The report outlines several examples of this, and will serve as good material for any letters you decide to send in to the media. Neil Steyskal is our main media watcher for this campaign, and will be forwarding stories to this site which are in need of response.

Neil Steyskal writes "The NY Times has published another editorial about Afghan women -- still without a word about the many men in Afghanistan who have been executed, tortured, and subjected to forced labor. Comment to: letters@nytimes.com."

Mike LaSalle writes "Men's News Daily has published an original article by Bill Kuhl on the subject of women's violence against men. Kuhl is currently writing his graduate thesis on the subject. Men, he says, endure as much violence to their possessions as they do their persons. And women, it turns out, often use weapons to gain advantage in their violent encounters."