Article here. Excerpt:

'CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. – The 15 sergeants, lieutenants and captains at the Marine Corps infantry school sat at the conference table with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to debate changes to the American way of war – in particular, the Pentagon’s new decision to integrate women into front-line combat positions.

One first sergeant objected strongly, saying that if women could add anything of value to combat infantry units, they would have been handed those missions long ago.

One staff sergeant worried that the Marine Corps’ high standards would have to be lowered if women were assigned to combat. Other Marines in the group agreed, warning that women would not be accepted by their male counterparts living in spartan wartime conditions, or that family lives would suffer, especially for those female Marines hoping to have children.

Article here. Excerpt:

Article here. Excerpt:

'The American hate site, A Voice for Men (AVfM), is bringing its toxic message of misogyny and rape apologism to the streets of Canadian cities through a propaganda campaign centred around a grotesque and entirely false narrative that states that it is now men who are the victims of systemic violence and injustice in our country and that demonizes feminism and feminists. They further aim to directly undermine strategies to combat sexual violence against not only women and girls, but also, in fact, against men and boys by denying the gendered reality of the perpetrators of sexual violence of all kinds (regardless of the gender of the victim), who are overwhelmingly male.

(Please see related MANN items here and here)

HELP US STOP THE CINCINNATI STUDY

For the last several weeks, we've been writing and calling TriHealth Good Samaritan Hospital in Cincinnati, where 200+ babies are being circumcised in a study to determine which circumcision clamp, the Gomco or the Mogen, is "better." How are they determining this? According to the study, by looking at which clamp results in fewer blood-soaked bandages, and by looking at expressions of pain on babies' faces.

We believe this study is a heinous violation of medical ethics and human rights, and we're furious that no one at the hospital has bothered to respond.

They're tuning us out, just like they're tuning out the screams of the babies being cruelly subjected to an unconscionable medical experiment—all in service to the shareholders of a medical instrument manufacturer seeking to profit from bad science in order to sell more circumcision tools.

We need to step up the pressure on this hospital, and we need your help:

Article here. Excerpt:

'AN allegation of a sexual assault in an Astley Bridge alleyway was false, police have said.

The incident was said to have happened in an alleyway between two shops in Blackburn Road on Sunday.

It was reported at about 3pm on Sunday and was said to have happened the previous night.

The alley was cordoned off from 3pm yesterday and was under police guard from an officer in a van.

Police said they have now investigated the report and discovered it was not true.
...
It is understood that police are not planning to take any action against the woman because her complaint was not said to be malicious.'

Article here. Exception:

'A men's only overflow tent at the homeless shelter on Record Street has some women wondering what their options are.

Sandy Isham with Volunteers of America says, "Historically the need is at least three times larger for men than it is for women."

As Reno's homeless population grows the need for shelter increases. To help prevent people from sleeping on the street, Isham says they have put up an overflow tent, but there's a catch, it's only for men, "There are more men amongst the chronically homeless population, but that's just what we are seeing down here at our campus."
...
Isham says, "If there are no beds available they can sit up at a table in our very nice day area in an air conditioned room that is also safe, because it's staffed 24 hours a day."

Some women don't think this option is very accommodating mainly because there are no beds, but Isham says the number of homeless men is much greater than women and so far only one woman has taken advantage of the room.'

Article here. Excerpt:

While Sheryl Sandberg and the pro-women movement encourage women to “lean in,” what’s never discussed is the relentless pressure men feel to not “lean out.”

I came across an article recently that talked about the damaging effects men face from a lifetime of being told to “Be a man. Stop being such a fag.” and “Grow a pair” that made me think about how we assume there’s no downside to the expectations of leadership. In order to be considered masculine, as all “real” men are supposed to be, we’re expected to be the alpha dog, to take charge, and, when necessary, to fight. For men with families, there’s an expectation to be the breadwinner, and they live with the pressure of being the last, and sometimes the only, line of defense between their children sleeping in a warm bed or sleeping in the streets. If the cupboards are bare, and the rent isn’t paid, it is ultimately their responsibility.

Letter here. Excerpt:

'MALE candidate awarded job instead of better-qualified female candidate': if this headline appeared in your newspaper, it would justifiably stir up a torrent of criticism, letters and comments denigrating the relevant institution and signalling disapproval at the blatant sexism and unfairness of the appointment.

But it would be the lack of logic that would ultimately indict the awarding body: if one candidate is stronger than the other, then surely the job should be awarded to the former.

The principle that emerges from this example is that the sex of the strongest candidate should be irrelevant. Most people would agree that this is correct.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Circumcision season usually starts from May and continues until around the end of the mid-year school holidays in July depending on the area. This is a difficult time for the young boys who go to initiation schools hoping to come out as men. It’s a particularly challenging time for hospitals in the Eastern Cape where the old ritual of circumcision is vigilantly observed. Most of the participants in initiation ceremonies in the Eastern Cape are Xhosa males.

With the Xhosa people of South Africa, circumcision is part of a series of rituals that are performed to facilitate the transition from childhood to manhood. This is a deeply personal and meaningful process that former President Nelson Mandela also took part in. For generations, boys have looked forward to initiation rituals and returning back to their families as healthy and wiser men. However, things do not turn out this way for many young boys in the Eastern Cape and other areas where the tradition is still practiced.

Article here. Excerpt:

'US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has committed US$11.4 million to support the Government’s national Voluntary Male Medical Circumcision, programme in a bid to reduce HIV infections.

American Ambassador to Zambia Mark Storella said this during the launch of the VMMC programme in chief Nondo’s area in Mbala last Thursday.

Mr Storella said men have an extraordinary opportunity through circumcision to reduce the risk of HIV infection by about 60 percent, making circumcision a pillar of HIV prevention.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'The deadlock began around week 20 of my pregnancy, when my mom casually asked about when and where our son would be circumcised. I presumptuously told her we weren’t going to do that. Then I saw the surprised look on my husbands face.
...
To begin working our way towards agreement, we consulted the professionals. Our pediatrician was impossible to read and exasperatingly diplomatic. Either decision would be fine, she assured us. We also learned that the American Association of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends circumcision, but not enough to assert that it should be a routine procedure.

MANN received a note from the owner of http://www.secondclasscitizen.org/ letting us know it existed. It addresses divorce and custody issues for fathers. In addition, the site operator hosts another site (http://www.redonkulas.com/) taking on various matters using humorous videos-- humor that nonetheless gets the point across. Consider it NSFW, however, and as the site says, prepare to be offended. Speaking of which, one is hosted here on YouTube doing a matter-of-fact cost analysis of hiring the services of an "escort" weekly vs. the costs associated with being married, then divorced after 7 years and having had two kids.

Ruthlessly analytical and practical. But in today's "modern world", the typical man can't afford to be sentimental when this kind of money's at risk.

Article here. Excerpt:

'A spurt in false cases has earned Delhi notoriety as the country's 'rape capital', a court here observed while acquitting a 75-year-old man of the charge of sexually assaulting his maid. The court said things have come to such a pass after the Nirbhaya gang rape in December that the mere statement of a woman about rape is taken as gospel truth, the accused arrested and chargesheeted.

"This led to an unprecedented surge in filing of false rape cases... It is these false cases which play havoc with the crime statistics, leading to the labeling of Delhi as a rape capital," additional sessions judge Virender Bhat said while acquitting Bhopal Sharma.

The court observed that as acquittals in such cases are hardly ever reported, the falsely implicated persons lose their honour, dignity and status in society, and while these cannot be restored, "these victims" can be compensated so that they can start life afresh.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Senior military personnel are considering giving women different military training than men, The Washington Times reports.

The effort was proposed by Massachusetts Democrat Rep. Niki Tsongas at a recent House Armed Services Committee hearing because so far, she says training systems do not “maximize the success of women.”

Though the armed services have promised that combat standards will be the same regardless of gender, senior officers are considering initially separate training systems.

Army Lt. Gen. Howard Bromberg, serving as deputy chief of staff for personnel, considers separate training programs to be more about considering all soldiers as individuals, citing a need to explore how the training process works.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'In the United States, 15 percent of domestic violence reports are against men. However, the CDC says in a conflicting survey it was much higher, 40 percent in fact.

Many men who suffer domestic violence don’t say anything because of the stigma attached and the lack of resources available. One safe place is working to change that. With the recent rise of domestic violence in Shasta County, the center is hoping to reach out to everyone affected by abuse.

“Men are abused also, and that’s why the Shasta Women’s refuge and Justice Center recently changed their name to One Safe Place,” said One Safe Place Director of Client Services Michael Burke.

Since the recent name change, Burke says more men have come in for help.

“It’s not just about women and families it’s about men and people in dating violence, about any type of family violence or sexual assault that happens in our community,” said Burke.'