Article here. Excerpt:

'Labour leader David Cunliffe's [link added] apology for being a man is "insulting" because not all men are abusive, Prime Minister John Key says.

"It's a pretty silly comment from David Cunliffe," Key said.

"The problem isn't being a man, the problem is if you're an abusive man, and I think it's a bit insulting to imply that all men are abusive.

"A small group are and they need to change their behaviour and be held to account.

"Is he really sincere about that statement? Tomorrow afternoon is he going to go down to the local rugby club and say 'I'm sorry for being a man'? I don't think so."

Cunliffe made the apology at a Women's Refuge symposium today, where he also pledged to invest an extra $60 million into family violence services.

He spoke of the "bullshit, deep-seated sexism" still prevalent in New Zealand.

"It needs to stop," he said.

Article here. Excerpt:

'The nation has snapped back to its pre-recession self in terms of total employment, according to job numbers released last week.

Now there’s about 138,780,000 jobs filled in the country, the number the United States had when the recession began back in December 2007.

But a curious thing has happened: Men now fill fewer positions than they did before the recession.

To put it another way, although men still occupy more jobs than women overall, today women make up a larger portion of the workforce than they did before the economic downturn. At the start of the recession men held 3.2 million more jobs than women, but that gap has narrowed with men holding 1.6 million more jobs than women.
...
The jobs traditionally occupied by women simply weren’t hurt as much by the economy as the jobs typically occupied by men, according to Hartmann.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Police would lose the power to unilaterally “drop” rape investigations, even if they think there is insufficient evidence to proceed, under Labour plans to revolutionise the way sexual crimes are handled.

At present there is no obligation for police to refer cases to the prosecutors before a decision is made to drop a case. But under proposals to be put forward by the shadow Attorney General Emily Thornberry on Monday, officers would have to get the agreement of the Crown Prosecution Service to end an investigation.

Ms Thornberry will say that she hopes the plan would end the culture of rape and sexual violence being an “optional” crime to investigate and help end a “culture of defeatism” where the authorities believe there will never be a large number of rape convictions because it is “too difficult” to prosecute.

Article here. Excerpt:

"Schoolboys need to have lessons in feminism to help teach them out to treat women, Labour claims.

Compulsory sex education classes should be held in all schools to tackle the rise of sexist abuse fuelled by internet porn, Yvette Cooper said.

The shadow home secretary warned a culture is spreading in schools where girls are subject to verbal abuse and have their shirts undone and skirts lifted by boys who do not respect them.

Schools, colleges and universities are to be consulted on changes in rules – or the law – which are needed to tackle the problem.

Labour warns too many boys believe abuse is ‘normal’ and it is fuelling a culture of violence against women and girls.
...
She recalled one teacher describing how teenage girls face vile verbal abuse on a daily basis. 

Girls are 'heckled if they dare to speak in class, their shirts forcibly undone, their skirts lifted and held by groups of boys'.

Came across this piece in my travels and thought it could use some attention. I like how the author takes the time to identify the phenomenon of "toxic femininity" in its many forms. After all, if feminists have been so good at the ways masculinity can be toxic (and in fact I agree; for some men, their idea of 'masculinity' is toxic to them and others), then why isn't anyone doing the same for women? Can there be no toxicity in women's pursuit of or general ideations around femininity? Heck, yeah! Excerpt:

'Toxic femininity is not a personal trait of individuals. It is an aspect of a gender role, and since gender roles are a matrix of customs, expectations and policing, they are social rather than individual. That is what it means to say gender is constructed, if always on a pretty fixed base of biological sex for the huge majority of us, and this is where the construction takes place. (Gender identities are different; they inhere in individuals.)

I have drawn up a preliminary list of types and aspects of toxic femininity. They come from things I have picked up in the femmisphere in posts and comments, from things I have seen in the men’s side of the gendersphere and some come from personal experience. I wanted to list and name them so that people can use this in their own discussions and would have something to refer back to. The list is preliminary and suggestions on additions are gratefully accepted.
...
Damseling is the female end of White Knighting – one cannot exist without the other. It is a celebration of helplessness and dependence on someone else’s protection. This is really nothing other than a feudal relationship. Depending on someone else for protection is a form of vassalage.

Examples include -

Article here. Excerpt:

'Consequences for assailants are "not significant or harsh enough to act as a deterrent," [Das] Williams [link added] said, and light penalties are undermining students' trust in their schools to handle cases of sexual violence.

Community colleges should also be able to expel students from the entire system, like UC or CSU, he added, so that they can't just transfer to another campus.

Punishment has been the biggest point of contention surrounding campus sexual violence. While victims have pushed for stronger responses from universities, a growing opposition has countered that expelling students could ruin the rest of their lives.

Williams acknowledged that this last proposal could be controversial, but said it provides an opportunity for justice that victims do not always get.

Article here. Excerpt:

'An even more troubling manifestation of rape culture is the current backlash against the anti-rape movement that has led a handful of male students to sue universities with the claim that they were falsely accused of sexual assault. Are false accusations wrong? Yes, of course. However, in these cases these men were found guilty of the act after full investigative proceedings; and of course the in these "frivolous" lawsuits the men attempt to make the claim that the sexual encounter was consensual. They make this claim while displaying their true lack of understanding of what compromises consensual sex, which includes not knowing that an intoxicated "yes" or an intoxicated failure to "say no" is NOT consensual sex. All this, while according to the FBI, only 8% of rape reports are considered to be unfounded.
...

Article here. Excerpt:

'The Obama administration has been trying to crack down on campus sexual assaults by lowering the standard of evidence needed by university and college panels to convict suspects, but the policy change has provoked a backlash as accused students fight back with lawsuits.

Instead of “beyond a reasonable doubt,” as practiced in criminal courts, the new standard is “preponderance of evidence,” meaning it’s more likely than not that an assault occurred.

The policy change has resulted in more convictions and is starting to get expensive.

Really expensive.

While only four such lawsuits were filed against universities from 2008 to 2010, between 2012 and 2014 there were 18 cases, representing a four-fold increase, according to a report by Stop Abusive and Violent Environments that is touted as the “most comprehensive listing of campus sex lawsuits ever.”

Story here. Excerpt:

'PARIS (AP) -- The mother of a pupil at a French pre-school stabbed a teacher to death in front of her class Friday, the last day of the school year, authorities said.

The education minister said the mother apparently had "serious psychiatric problems," and pledged support for teachers in the face of angry or violent parents. Police said the mother was taken into custody.

Deadly attacks in a school are extremely rare in France, and the stabbing in front of a class of 5- and 6-year-olds raised concern at the highest levels. French President Francois Hollande expressed outrage at the attack at the Edouard Herriot school in Albi in southern France.

Education Minister Benoit Hamon traveled immediately to the school, and told reporters that the mother of a pupil "committed this abominable act in a class against a remarkable teacher." A police official said the mother stabbed the teacher with a knife soon after school started Friday morning.'

LMAO! Hardly a MR issue/topic, but it's a slow day and we're due for some comedy relief. If nothing else, this article shows the degree to which things like WST have become laughable. Hey, can an EE earn credit toward his degree as an EE for expanding his "engineering horizons" by taking a one-day clay pottery workshop, too? Excerpt:

'Female Arizona State University students can receive extra credit for defying social norms and refusing to shave for 10 weeks during the semester.

Women and Gender Studies Professor Breanne Fahs, encourages her female students to cease shaving their underarms and legs during the semester and document their experiences in a journal.
...
Men are also allowed to receive extra credit, as long as they shave their bodies from the neck down.

Fahs says the experiment illustrates social issues with gender roles, particularly with the male participants.

Truly fantastic news! David does a number on Goliath in this one! Article here.

'Today Israel’s High Court of Justice issued an unprecedented ruling—rabbinical courts in that country no longer have the authority to determine whether boys will be circumcised should divorcing parents disagree on the matter.

The 6-1 vote in favor of stripping the rabbinical court’s power, means the disputed circumcision of a child is no longer a divorce issue. To the extent that such issues arise, they will now be handled in family court and will be subject to a best-interests-of-the-child test.

The matter came to the High Court of Justice after a rabbinical court ordered a then one-year-old boy to be circumcised as part of a divorce proceeding. His mother, pictured above, is opposed to circumcision due to the pain of the procedure and it’s potential for complications.

Following today's ruling the mother stated: “Social pressure is no reason to force cutting my son’s body as nature, the universe naturally created him.”

Press release here. Excerpt:

'WASHINGTON / July 1, 2014 – A new SAVE report reveals a sharp increase in the number of lawsuits filed by students alleging they were wrongfully expelled on allegations of sexual assault. Following implementation of a 2011 Department of Education sexual assault policy, the number of lawsuits rose four-fold, the report shows.

From 2008 to 2010, only four lawsuits were filed against universities. But from 2012 to 2014, eighteen cases are known to have been filed, representing a four-fold increase. Nearly all charge the university failed to comply with fundamental due process requirements in adjudicating the claim.

The report is believed to be the most comprehensive listing of campus sex lawsuits ever compiled: www.saveservices.org/wp-content/uploads/Campus-Sexual-Assault-Lawsuits.pdf

Article here. Excerpt:

'In the bizarro world of the right wing, those who are waging a relentless war on women's reproductive rights claim that there is a war on men being waged by feminists who are trying to emasculate American men. As the echo chamber for this alternate reality, Fox News' anathema lists now include feminists who have the audacity to question the patriarchy so beloved by the Fox enabled right wing who actually believe that women who don't know their place are hurting America! Fox & Friends has engaged in feminist bashing meme as well as promoting the dark and angry world of men's rights. On Monday, they established, as Fox Fact, that there is a war on men because nasty feminists accused a men's right's conference, which called for the defeat of feminism, of fostering hate speech. Funny, Fox & Friends fully supports free speech for Christians; feminists, not so much!

Article here. Excerpt:

'Relationships can be an emotional rollercoaster. Throughout the ride, men and women can be everything from loving and nurturing, to sometimes verbally and even physically abusive during fights. While aggression in heterosexual relationships is believed to stem from men, a recent study presented on June 25 at a symposium on intimate partner violence (IPV) at the British Psychological Society's Division of Forensic Psychology annual conference in Glasgow, found women are more likely to be “intimate terrorists,” or physically aggressive to their partners than men.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Ilyse Hogue, the president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, blasted the ruling as "a direct attack on women and our fundamental rights" from "five male justices." Others hailed the ruling as a resounding win for freedom of conscience. What's largely missing from the debate is the voices of feminists who believe it's dangerous to tie women's freedoms to government-mandated benefits.

It's unclear how broad the ruling's effects will be. The case applies to a specific type of business: corporations with a limited number of shareholders such as Hobby Lobby, the crafts store chain. The court's majority has held that, since religiously affiliated nonprofits such as schools and charities are partially exempt from the contraceptive-coverage mandate (which they believe would force them to pay for abortion-inducing drugs and devices), family-owned businesses are entitled to the same exemption.

Framing the issue as a "war on women" is misguided and polarizing. The fact that the court's three female justices dissented, along with Justice Stephen Breyer, is a function of ideology rather than gender. It is also worth noting that Justice Anthony Kennedy, who provided the swing vote in the case, is a strong supporter of women's rights and reproductive rights. And there are many women who believe the birth-control mandate infringes on religious liberty - among them Hobby Lobby cofounder Barbara Green. To suggest that those who share this view are woman-oppressing Neanderthals if male, and dupes of the patriarchy if female, is hardly conducive to civilized discourse.