An Anonymous User submitted a link to Cathy Young's article in Reason magazine about boys and the education gap. There is an interesting contrast of the views of Christina Hoff-Sommers vs. William Pollack, and the article is typical of Young's consider-both-sides-of-the-story approach, which always sounds reasonable and lets the reader decide on the outcome. It's a very good essay, and includes many relevant statistics. Check it out.

BusterB writes "Well, finally - justice is also starting to apply to women, after the Mary Kay LeTourneau fiasco and a couple of similar cases in Canada in which the teachers in question weren't even charged with a crime (although they did lose their jobs). This is a different jurisdiction, of course, but perhaps the justice system is slowly waking up to the idea that there is no excuse for female teachers having sex with their students, and that the students weren't "asking for it" simply because they were male. Now if only we can get judges to realize that rape victims shouldn't have to pay child support...then we'd be seeing some real progress."

Jon Mollison submitted this CBSNews story and writes, "The article offers a few thin excuses for the increased suicide rate of divorced men but fails to mention the high rates of men who are denied access to their children. It does mention that women do better after divorce, emotionally, and that they initiate divorce more often than men. However, it fails to come to the clear conclusion that most men are genuinely happy being good husbands and fathers."

James Castelli sent in another article from the Boston Globe, this one on the topic of male reproductive rights. Jim writes "After paying child support totaling $28,000 for 7 years Andrew suspected that the child he had supported was not his. DNA tests confirmed his suspicions and now the Massachusetts Supreme Court must decide if he can be forced to continue child support payments despite the fact that the child he is being forced to support is not his biological child. Men, like women, should have a 'choice' about their reproductive and financial destiny..."

James Castelli submitted this article from the Boston Globe and writes, "With women making up 14% of the total of the armed forces, isn't it time that the responsibility to register for the draft be shared equally? Since all 18 year old males must register for the draft within 30 days of their 18th birthday isn't it time that the call for equal rights for women be broadened to include equal responsibilities? John Solomon and Thomas Mc Guire write that the rationale for excluding women from the draft is quickly eroding while reasons to include them - from military preparedness to gender equality - multiply."

Salon.com posted part one of a two part article series about a new domestic violence awareness campaign which is being advertised in New York City subway trains. The ads show yearbook portraits of young women with the subtitles, "Most likely to be forced into sex," "Most 911 calls," "Most excuses for a black eye," etc. "This year's campaign...tells us that high school and college girls are at risk; that partner abuse is so pervasive, many girls won't be able to avoid it; that if they find themselves in an abusive relationship, these women need to get themselves out of it; that they can start by calling the mayor's hot line." All of the ads ignore the existence of violence against men, and the author of the article, while thoroughly entrenched in DV politics, at least criticizes the campaign for stressing the victimhood of women and not addressing DV in homosexual relationships.

Not PC submitted some excerpts from an article stating that politically correct thinking has now hit the production of gingerbread men: "Political correctness hits gingerbread man...the gingerbread man has become a gingerbread person.
The supermarket chain Safeway announced that it would be producing an equal number of gingerbread men and gingerbread women in response to consumer demand...The move provoked mockery in the town of Grantham where the biscuit originated in 1740...'It's political correctness gone way beyond the pale. The gingerbread man has always been an innocuous little fellow. It's not as if he has all his naughty bits showing.'"

The Globe and Mail printed this science article about the roots of "male violence." A species of freshwater fish and fig wasps were studied, and testosterone levels of the males were monitored in various behavior situations. But is it reasonable to compare the behavior of simple organisms such as insects with conscious men? As Mark Lesmeister put it, "This article's headline makes the mistaken substitution of 'men' for 'males.' Human beings aren't cichlid fish or fig wasps."

Trudy Schuett, author of the novel Friends to the End which delves into the taboo subject of domestic violence against men, wrote an essay about the state of gender relations today, and how far we (haven't) come. Trudy outlines the history of the anti-male women's movement, and is not afraid to offer criticism where it is due. As a woman, Trudy's views further validate the need for a restoration of men's rights and dignity. She concludes that trust is the vital aspect missing in most male/female relationships today, and we must change the portrayal of men and divorce on television and the media to restore hope. Click "Read More" below to view her bold and unapologetic essay...

Karen De Coster wrote an editorial for LewRockwell.com about how men have become feminized over the years. She prefers a "Marlboro Man" kind of masculinity and believes "men need to be manly, and women need to let them be manly, and that means taking on some serious anti-wimpification measures." While the article is in a superficial sense "supportive" of traditional masculinity, there were a number of interesting counterpoints made in a reply that Mark Lesmeister wrote up and submitted to Mensactivism.org. Read De Coster's article, and then click "Read More" below to view Mark's insightful and decidedly pro-male response.

The Sun-Sentinel is reporting that activist groups are pushing for new laws that will make the willful nonpayment of child support in excess of $5k a felony. The law would not apply to people who are in tight financial situations and are unable to pay. While I'm not arguing that willful non-payers of child support shouldn't be punished, I find this disappointing in light of the fact that there still exist no laws which enforce a father's visitation rights, or require the custodial parent to account for how child support money is spent.

David Byron writes "New Jersey Online reports a new study by the Justice Department's National Institute of Justice in this article. As usual from the 'injustice' department, the study is biased towards women - nothing new there - however despite the best gloss that they could put on the result, the study blasts away most feminist claims about college rape. The original report can be found here in text format." Click "Read More" below to see some more important comments that David has about the study and some points about ways to interpret it.

Kingsley Morse, Jr. forwarded me this press release about an upcoming session in the Georgia senate about the problem of paternity fraud. "Now is the time to END PATERNITY FRAUD as a legally protected extortion against men. The constitution says the law is supposed to provide equal protection for it's citizens. Georgia must protect the real victim and provide restitution to those who have been victimized. Join us today, at the Georgia State Capitol's Legislative Office Building on Wednesday, January 31, 2001 @ 5:00PM. We need 100 people, victims, wives of victims, girlfriends of victims, fathers rights groups, men and women. Will you join us?" Contact information is provided in the press release. This looks to be a hopeful opportunity to air this issue and to get some results.

"An Edgy and Intelligent Magazine for ALL Men," The Guy Code featured The Men's Activism News Network in its weekly review of "encoded" web sites, giving this site the "Far More than Backlash" award, along with many kind words. Thanks guys!

Bill Kuhl sent in another good analysis of Montel Williams and his talk show, which may be one of the most far-reaching venues for "men's issues" that currently exists and is (at least in a lukewarm sense) voicing our concerns. Click "Read More" below for Bill's comments. And thanks to everyone who has been submitting editorials recently - I want Mensactivism.org to be a voice of the people who are participating in the men's movement and whose ideas deserve to be heard.