In the commentary in the National Post, Donna Laframboise echoes the recent comments by Doris Lessing, that feminists need to lay off men and boys. It's not what feminism was supposed to be about, she says. She also says that because men are either too afraid to speak out, or are too extremist to be taken seriously, women need to speak for them. On this, I disagree. Certainly, women should speak out for men if they feel so inclined, but not in place of men speaking out for ourselves.

frank h and Andrew sent in this very disturbing article from Ananova News. It reports on a survey done by the women's magazine That's Life, which found that 24% of women would "try to conceive without their partner's consent if they wanted a baby." Other quotes from the article: "The Scruples and Lies Survey found that modern women are willing to lie about everything from contraception to the size of their bank balance. Whether it's little white lies or serious porkies, 94% of the 5,000 respondents confessed to telling fibs, with 48% lying on a daily basis...The vast majority (84%) said they could lie with a clear conscience, with many justifying their deceit as a means of sparing other people's feelings."

Mark writes "This article (free registration required to read) from NY Times columnist Maureen Dowd discusses how many women today still feel that even after women's liberation, men should still pay for dating..."Going Dutch is an archaic feminist relic. It's a scuzzy 70's thing, like platform shoes on men." One man admitted that he had to spend $10,000 on dates to "get his wife.""

Neil Steyskal submitted this essay from the National Review. John Derbyshire writes about the increasing "feminization" of culture, and the growing redundancy of men. His outlook is depressing, to say the least, and Derbyshire offers no suggestions on how to avoid the dystopia he describes. It's a fairly somber read.

Tonight's chat (starts at 9:30 PM EST, click here, etc.) will be a very important chat session. During it, we will be designing some flyers and informational materials which can be used by battered men's advocates during October's Domestic Violence Awareness Month campaign. Now's your chance to do something to help raise awareness of domestic violence against men. The flyers will be created and then posted to Mensactivism.org for anyone to print out and distribute. Every year, advocates for abused men are silenced and mocked. It's time for this to change, and we need your help. Please join our chat tonight for some serious activism.

Thomas pointed me to this article and writes "Fox News reports that an Ontario man was nearly castrated by his common-law wife during a domestic dispute. Fortunately, the woman was arrested. Unfortunately, Fox News saw fit to make a joke of the incident with the final comment, "(Sgt. Paul Malik of the Durham Regional Police) did not say whether the man's voice was in a noticeably higher pitch."

Obviously, Fox News would not make a joke of a woman who was mutilated by a man." You can send your comments to Fox News at topstories@foxnews.com. Update: The article's last line has been changed! Thanks to everyone who wrote in to them about this.

nagzi writes "This article on CBCnews's webpage is a break down of the leading causes of death in Canada. Towards the bottom of the page is a link to a break down of the stats by gender. Needless to say, men are the biggest victims in all areas with the exception of one. And the one thing that kills more women [psychoses] is by a small fraction." Of course, the CBS story didn't mention anything about gender in the story, indicating how unimportant this gender inequity is.

This article on Excite News bodes well for advertisers and the media once again recognizing the buying power of men. According to the PR piece (that's really what it is) more and more men are taking "solo" spa retreats, and more spa vacation packages are beginning to offer the "adventure" type retreats men are seeking. Unfortunately, the article also suggests that the reason men are taking these "solo" retreats is to meet single women. I say perhaps we just want to get away for a while.

Unfortunately for people who's children (mainly boys) are misdiagnosed with ADD or ADHD, credibility for claims of misdiagnosis is being shot down almost singlehandedly by an overzealous 65-year-old psychiatrist who wrote in a recent book that children should be having sex with each other as a means of liberating themselves from "parental oppression." The psychiatrist in question also happens to be one of Ritalin's biggest foes. This article on Fox News spills out the gory details.

frank h sent in this story and writes "Finally, someone in law enforcement has woken up to the fact of false allegations! According to court records, the woman took photos of a bruise to her thigh she received in a fall from a ladder, using it later to try to prove her husband had kicked her and thrown a metal file at her."

There's been a tremendous amount of focus on women and heart disease in the media lately, which is surprising when you consider that men have traditionally been more likely to die from heart disease than women. This story on Excite News examines some potential reasons why men are more likely to get heart attacks on weekends rather than during the week.

This story on Excite News is largely about the women's studies and English departments at the University of Arizona supporting an independent bookstore rather than the university bookstore. To combat this, the university instituted a policy in which all professors must submit book requirements for their classes to the university's bookstore. It also reveals how misleading the titles of women's studies courses can be. In some cases, such as the incident that sparked the institution of the policy, the required literature from Antigone has been about gender studies. Rep. Linda Gray, R-Ariz., who came out in support of the policy, said that was not the main issue for putting the mandate into place. "That really wasn't the important aspect," she said. "However, this student had signed up for a women's literature course and was not told it would be a celebration of the gay and lesbian community." Gray said instructors should be "up front" about the content of their courses, and they should practice "truth in advertising."

This article on Excite News claims that one of the oldest women's studies programs in the U.S. is changing its name to "gender studies" to "more accurately reflect the goal of the program." Unforunately, it does not appear to me that the program is being in any way altered to include men. Perhaps men aren't even a sex anymore? Numerous courses are offered through the program that have "gender" in their titles, but the department does not feel that more male students will feel welcome to take such courses.

A Massachusettes politician who was told she cannot speak at a men-only veterans dinner because she is female is enraged and thinking of taking legal action, according to this story on Excite News. The club in question does have some female members, but is a bona fide private club and can, therefore, exclude whom it wishes. The woman says that she could lose a prime networking opportunity if not allowed to attend the dinner. Silva told DeFranco the men-only dinners are a tradition. "And that's the way it's going to be," he said.

This story on Excite News reports on a new advocacy program geared toward assisting victims of sexual assault on that campus. The story specifically states (twice) that the program is there to help both female and male victims of sexual assault. We'll all remember that Colorado State U. is one university that received quite a bit of flack for preventing male students from participating in "Take Back The Night" rallies, and for repeatedly perpetuating the notion that women are victims and men are predators. Although this looks like a step in the right direction, I am still uncomfortable that the program is run by the "Office of Women's Studies."