Thomas Walsh asked me to announce that Wendy McElroy from ifeminists.com will be debating Kathleen Barry about whether prostitution and pornography exploits women. The debate is being sponsored by the Campus Libertarians and will be held this Tuesday, Nov. 6. A poster for the debate can be seen here. If you need more info or are interested in attending it, drop Thomas an e-mail.

Women's eNews' attack on fatherhood continues with this commentary by Cindy Richards, who claims that fathers are not necessary and contribute nothing to the child rearing process, and that fathers may simply be replaced by wallets. Oh, and by the way, the editor's note at the top of this story says that this piece is the "first in a series." I wonder what other BS they have planned?

Neil Steyskal sent in an article from the Christian Science Monitor about a new idea that is gaining popularity in the U.S: supervised visitation exchanges of children in a neutral setting. The idea is to keep both parents from seeing each other to avoid conflicts which inevitably harm the children. The system seems fair and does what it's intended to do, so I think it's a great idea.

I've found this book review of "Misconceptions Truth, Lies, and the Unexpected on the Journey to Motherhood" by Naomi Wolf, a well known feminist. Reading the review, I was reminded of Carolyn F. Graglia's comment (author of Domestic Tranquility: A Brief Against Feminism in case you're not aware) that women's advocates are the biggest woman haters of all, chances are you might get the same impression as well.

zerostress writes "This story of a man and his peculiar war should be an
example of what a man who desires to influence the world for
the good can do. Let's hope his example will prompt
many of us to do the utmost for what we believe" This is an amazing story about a man who is delivering humanitarian aid on the front lines of battle in Afghanistan. He really is an inspirational person.

Steve writes "Academic freedom is under further attack. This N.O.W. article attacks all gender studies which are not Women's Studies." The fear of offering legitimacy to "Men's Studies" is explicitly mentioned in the article, written by Loretta Kane. Apparently, N.O.W. is starting to get worried about the men's movement.

Neil Steyskal pointed me to this article from the UK Guardian, which states that a proposed law would create consequences for custodial parents who deny court-ordered visitation to non-custodial parents. The accountability would be based on fines and community service orders, and may also require attending parenting or anger management classes depending on the situation. All I can say is, it's about time! I hope our UK readers are lobbying for this law and that it gets passed.

Trudy Schuett had an article printed in the Sierra Times about divorce and the family courts. The article is an in-depth look at how our current divorce system in the U.S. is harming everyone involved, particularly children. Trudy includes lots of good stats and I hope her message is heard. Speaking of Trudy, the latest edition of the DesertLight Journal was released, and can be read here.

Cheddah writes "A package of bills before the Michigan Legislature would prohibit school employees from recommending that any student be prescribed Ritalin. As any Mensactivism reader knows, it has been mostly young boys who have been targeted for this drug." This certainly opens up some questions about parent's rights vs. public school authority, and I think we need more debate on this issue. You can read the story here.

Neil Steyskal sent along this link to a report about the latest Bureau of Justice Statistics report which for the first time includes data about domestic violence against homosexuals. Again, this is a crime survey, not a sociology or family violence study, and it exhibits the typical bias against men who are less likely to report domestic violence (including homosexuals, who have other reasons to fear contacting the police for help). Still, we should make note of this because the Justice Dept. stats are the ones most widely used by battered women's advocates, who have been able to define domestic violence over the past quarter century.

nagzi submitted this link which is a RealAudio interview with Andrea Dworkin on a free speech radio program. As you would expect, Dworkin gets tripped up a bit when talking about pornography to the host, who in general otherwise seems supportive of Dworkin's work. I'm including this interview because it's instructive to know what we're up against - Dworkin has lost a lot of influence over the years, but she still represents one of the most radical, anti-male forms of feminism we've seen to date. Take note of the techniques she uses to make her points and study them.

This commentary on Women's eNews accuses father's rights groups and activists of inciting violence and hatred against women and children. The author claims "involved fathers," those who have made job sacrifices, etc., to be with their children, are somehow different from those who have been forceably estranged from their children by a vindictive ex-spouse. He also attempts to vindicate court biases against men by claiming that fathers who seek child custody are often abusers.

Robert Cunningham sent in this link and writes "The following service has just begun in Australia. Men's Line Australia is the first national telephone counselling line for men who want to talk about their family and relationship concerns. It provides information, support and referrals. The service is available 24 hours a day from anywhere in Australia for the cost of a local call." I'm particularly encouraged to see that the helpline seems focused on helping men who are depressed and/or suicidal. You can click here to find out info on how to support the helpline, by volunteering or donating to them.

Richard Doyle from the Men's Defense Association sent in a short essay about father's rights and families in general. Toward the end, Doyle looks at it from a political perspective, and acts to help inform his political party's members about the need to help families by helping men, particularly by putting men and women on a more equal ground when it comes to the family courts. Read More below for his essay.

Considering that tonight is Halloween night for most people in the U.S, I've decided to skip the chat this week. If you still want to show up, feel free to do so, though. I'm also getting a bit short on chat topic ideas, and would welcome any suggestions - post them as a comment to this story, or e-mail them to me at scott@mensactivism.org.