Lance Armstrong, who overcame a very serious testicular cancer case about four years ago, has today won the Tour de France - for the third year in a row. Because of this I feel that Armstrong's victory is not just about a bike race, but about a man's victory over cancer and an inspiration to other men. The Lance Armstrong Foundation, which supports research, public awareness, and support to cancer survivors, can be found at this link.

This study conducted by a University of Texas professor and sponsored by the Independent Women's Forum indicates that the sharp drop of men on college campuses in the U.S. has had an equally dramatic impact on college dating culture. Women are finding it more difficult to find long-term partners, according to the study, while men are enjoying a preponderance of brief sexually charged encounters. The article does stereotype men as "only wanting one thing," but one brave soul speaks up and points out that men do seek out long-term relationships as well. It will be interesting, to me, to find out whether other men lament or laud this change in dating climate.

This article on Excite News purports to confirm an old stereotype that women are more likely to visit the doctor than are men. In spite of its headline, the article spends more word space focusing on how to "improve" women's health and relationships with the medical profession than men. In fact, men are only mentioned in three paragraphs of the 12 paragraph story. Most of the comparisons are made between white women and black women. Not surprisingly, women are diagnosed and treated for depression more often than men. It is my personal belief that this is because of the old stereotype in which men must "suck it up and tough it out" while women are too delicate to be allowed to experience any discomfort.

A study described on Excite News indicates that some pesticides and solvents may be to blame for a dramatic increase in male infertility. Dwindling sperm counts have been a cause of concern since Danish researchers reported in 1992 that sperm counts worldwide were declining. Many experts blame environmental factors for the decline, as well as an increase in testicular cancer.

Robert H wrote in about a situation he found himself in where he was being harassed at his workplace and accused of "making moves" on another employee's wife. After having left the job because of the stress, he has attempted several ways to get some sort of support, but found it nowhere. Robert's story can be read by clicking Read More below. I would urge you to contact Robert if you can suggest to him any resources and offer some moral support for another man who was mistreated and is being ignored.

Ray Remark sent me this predictable story from the Spokane Spokesman-Review about domestic violence. The story is specifically about the usage of "Children's Rooms" in courts for children to stay in so they don't have to observe the domestic violence trials that their parents are going through, but practically every paragraph of the article points out the overwhelming prevalence of male abusers. Ray sent in a sharp response, which can be read by clicking Read More below. It probably won't be printed in the paper, so you might as well read it here.

With all the talk recently about boys and education--mainly, how boys require more physical activity--I thought that this article from Christian Science Monitor was both relevant and important. It reports on the first public school to adopt military-style discipline for students, and it is, of course, controversial. However, the school officials promise it will not to be one of the "boot camp" schools about which we've heard so much lately. The focus is going to be on education, discipline, and physical activity. Although this sounds particularly good for boys' education (we've all heard about how boys learn better when physical activity is involved), the article only quotes female students (and the parents of female students). I'll be writing an oped letter to point that out to them (e-mail oped@csps.com... you must include your name and address if the letter is to be considered for publication).

frank h pointed me to this article from TooGoodReports.com and writes "Duplantier encourages the celebration of gender diversity in this short essay. Not real hard-hitting, but well-said." From the article: "Thanks to the persistent intervention of reality, the hostile egalitarianism of the sexes may at long last be on the wane...Instead of trying fanatically to blur the distinctions between the sexes, let's go back to accentuating and celebrating them."

frank h is looking to form a chapter of the National Coalition of
Free Men in New Jersey, and is looking for potential members. Please
e-mail Frank at fhujber@optonline.net if you're interested.

It's that time again.... issue number eight of Trudy Schuett's DesertLight Journal has hit the internet. Read it here. 'Nuff said. :)

Here's an inspiring story from Fox News about a 6-year-old boy who, when his mother was incapacitated, managed to rescue his baby brother and himself from a flipped car after an automobile accident. "We're very fortunate," Gegelman said. "Breyleigh loves his brother, and he's real protective of him. I just think what he did was heroic." Here's to the destruction of the stereotype that boys (and men) are incapable of the type of love which fuels such action.

Neil Steyskal writes "Several weeks ago men's activists wrote to Dear Abby about her advice on an issue involving fathers' parenting time. Today she came around to our side: click here."

There were a couple of great letters in the Christian Science Monitor replying to a recent article about how men are avoiding marriage because of the ways it is unfair to them. You may recognize the names as Mensactivism.org readers and commentors. Great work, Alan and Neil! This is a great example of reader activism.

Igor writes "I stumbled upon a great website lately: www.StraightActing.com provides a community for many homosexual/bisexual men who feel rejected by the Gay Pride Movement. Many of these men feel that society pressures them into the "limp wrist" definition of homosexuality. A great deal of them avoid the gay scene entirely just because they are sick of being stereotyped as effeminate. The general consensus on the forums is that the "gay community" is just as bad as the "straight community" when it comes to accepting these men. This is a great website for homosexual/bisexual men (even heterosexual men too) who want to feel masculine while still accepting their sexuality. Society has accepted "lipstick lesbians" (lesbians who act like heterosexual women). When will society accept masculine gay/bi men?"

Christian Science Monitor ran this commentary by a stay-at-home dad who, along with his wife, rediscovered the fact that children tend to take for granted that the situations in their own families exist everywhere. The column is fun and a little humorous, but also a sincere reminder that we need to start educating our children early on all the opportunities that are (or should be) available to them--male or female--as they grow up.