Article here. Excerpt:

'All these examples seem like strong evidence for Benatar’s thesis. Others he advances are more contentious, however. He finds it hypocritical that people get “very exercised” about female circumcision, but the decision to circumcise baby boys, often without anaesthetic, is uncontroversial. It was pointed out at Monday’s seminar that the two are virtually incomparable in terms of pain, scale and long-term effects, but Benatar says he addresses this argument in more detail in his book.

Article here. Excerpt:

'A team from the University of Virginia law school is suing the Pentagon for excluding women from combat units on behalf of two female Army reservists who say their careers were stymied by the policy.

Command Sgt. Maj. Jane Baldwin and Col. Ellen Haring both argue in the lawsuit that they have been shut out of promotions and desirable jobs for which they were otherwise well qualified either because they were banned by the exclusion policy from serving in those units, or because the combat exclusion prevented them from getting vital career experience.
...
The Supreme Court last addressed combat exclusion issues in 1981, when it ruled that sex discrimination in Selective Service registration was constitutional because women were unable to serve in combat units. Coughlin noted that combat has changed dramatically over the past three decades, and even the Defense Department has acknowledged that women today have often been placed in combat situations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Gov. Mark Dayton says he won't sign into law a bill that would have increased the minimum parenting time in cases of divorce.

"I'm very disappointed. This was such a small change in the right direction," said Republican Peggy Scott of Andover, the House sponsor of the bill.

But Liz Richards, director of programming for the Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women, called it "a very simplistic solution" that could have de-emphasized consideration of a child's best interests. "Our position is really: 'Proceed with caution,' " she said.

Most divorces are settled between the parties, Richards said, but the ones that need court intervention -- and thus would be affected by a change in statute -- often include complex and problematic domestic situations.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'It doesn't take social science research to prove that men are angry and depressed. One measure of this trend is the increase in the rates of homicide and suicide we see in males. According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), homicide rates for males are three to four times higher than they are for females. Among persons aged 20-24, the male homicide rate is six times higher than it is for females, and it is much worse among minorities than among whites. For those ages 10-19, the homicide rate is 10 times higher for blacks than for whites.

Article here. Excerpt:

'We need to talk about men and we don’t do so. Quite often, because of the cultures of both modern men and women, it’s because we can’t.

Even to suggest that there are issues among men that might need talking through is a minor heresy: being a white male is like playing a computer game on “easy mode” – men are the patriarchy. Not only do we sail easily into the elite, with great jobs and pay, we’re also responsible for a huge number of problems faced by other groups.

For some men, all of the above is true. Looking at the very top of society, you could imagine it was the case for huge numbers. But it's not the case for everyone: millions of men are losing out and their situation is getting steadily worse each year. And all too often, it’s happening below the radar.

Despite the focus on the real and severe impact of the UK’s austerity measures on women, men were more likely to be unemployed before the downturn and still are.

MANN Readers,

Regrettably, we've had to disable anonymous submissions due to loads of spamming to the site that started a few days ago. I waited to see if it would stop after a time but it hasn't; it only got worse. Somewhere out there, someone figured out how to automate spam advertising submissions to our site and for this reason, we all have to deal with the inconvenience of logging in first before submitting a story.

If you need a userid for the site to submit a story, just ask for one by sending a request to newaccounts@mensactivism.org. Again, sorry for the inconvenience, but spammers have made the web that much harder a place to enjoy the convenience it used to have.

Matt

Article here. Excerpt:

'The face never comes into view in my dreams, but I know it’s him. The twisted mouth is agape, molded in an eternal gasp of shock. The lower half of his body is gone, and there’s a black hole where his guts should have been. When Chevy was blown from the Stryker hatch, he took flight for an incalculable measure of time before landing on the slat armor of his vehicle. His uniform was blown off, which never happens in the movies. But he was whole, as complete and pure as the day he was born, I’m told. I never got the chance to see for myself before he disappeared into a body bag. The continuing ambush prevented that.

Memorial Day comes early and often for the men in my infantry battalion. During the unit’s second tour in Iraq in 2006 and 2007, we lost 21 men from three companies and attachments. We lost 17 in the span of four months during the Battle of Baquba.'

Issue downloadable from here. It contains an article on how men can reduce stress in their lives. I would say though the advice is probably just as applicable to women.

Article here. Excerpt:

'A day after a former high school football star had his rape conviction dismissed, attention focused on the woman who recanted the sexual assault claim she made 10 years ago.

Wanetta Gibson was a high school sophomore when she accused Brian Banks of raping her at Long Beach Poly High School. She and her family sued the school, receiving a $750,000 settlement, and Banks spent five years in prison after pleading no contest to forcible rape.

Even though a judge tossed out the rape charge Thursday, it remains far from certain whether Gibson, 24, will face any consequences.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'A Democratic congresswoman claimed this week that victimizing women is practically a right of passage in the United States, and that doing so is even “as American as apple pie.”

Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.), a victim of abuse herself, was recounting her reasoning for voting against the “fake” Violence Against Women Act reauthorization during a call in to Current TV’s “Talking Liberally with Stephanie Miller.”

“Victimization of women is as American as apple pie. I think people accept it and men’s right [of] passage, men’s rights as boyfriends and husbands,” Moore said.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Then entertainment caught up with feminism, and along came a slew of remarkable female roles: Ripley in Alien, Sarah Connor in Terminator, Disney’s Belle and Mulan. They set a precedent for hundreds of heroines who were not only as intelligent and strong-willed as the men in the story, but more so. Less nuanced than the heroine, less intelligent and usually weaker, the conventional hero seems now to be in greater danger than the Siberian tiger.

Article here. Excerpt:

'The Oscar Mayer ad campaign is “everything a man could wish for. The wife in the series is smart, energetic, decisive, sensible and cute, and she finally says ‘Yes.’ Unfortunately, when she finally says ‘Yes,’ it’s not what you might hope for; it’s for Oscar Mayer hot dogs for dinner,” said Ned Holstein, MD, MS, Founder and Chair, Fathers and Families.

He continued, “And here’s an advance warning: the Dad is everything you have come to expect from television dads: infantile, inept, narcissistic, befuddled, sloppy and balding, stupid, insecure, and timidly subservient to his wife. I envy the skill that Hollywood and Madison Avenue bring to their work; it takes something near genius to convey all that in a 30 second spot. But they manage to do it.”'

Article here. Excerpt:

'LONG BEACH, Calif. – The kidnap-rape conviction of a once-promising prep football star was dismissed Thursday following a recantation by his accuser.

Brian Banks collapsed in sobs on the counsel table during a court hearing where a prosecutor quickly conceded the decade-old case and moved for the dismissal.

In the summer of 2002, Banks' future looked bright: He was a 17-year-old high school football star being heavily recruited by a number of colleges. But in a single day that changed with the accusations of kidnapping and rape by a female student.

He maintained there was no rape and their sexual contact was consensual, but his lawyer urged him to plead no contest rather than risk a sentence of 41 years to life in prison if convicted. He followed the advice and went to prison for six years, shattering his dreams of gridiron glory.'

The Male Positive Meetup Group (Denver/Boulder) is intended for both men and women who would like to promote positive images of and attitudes toward men and boys. With the proliferation of negative stories about males in the mainstream media coupled with anti-male attitudes in general society, a group like this is a much needed refuge for those seeking an alternative.

"Male postitive" doesn't necessarily mean female negative; it just starts with the assumption that maleness is intrinsically a valuable thing (as is femaleness, which it complements). Building on that principle, this group intends to encourage like minded individuals to meet in person to help create a supportive and encouraging environment for males, both within the group and the community in general.

The web address for the meetup group is here:

http://www.meetup.com/Male-Positive-Meetup-Group/

Steve Van Valkenburg
Group Founder

Story here. Excerpt:

Wearing his sister’s skirt to school certainly got Chris Whitehead noticed.

Now it has also secured a nobler aim – and forced his school into a climbdown over its ban on shorts.

Chris, 13, made headlines with his outrageous method of protest at being prevented from wearing shorts in hot weather.

He brought national scrutiny to the uniform policy at Impington Village College, Cambridgeshire, when he turned up for lessons in a knee-length skirt last year.

He claimed it was unfair that girls were allowed to wear skirts while boys were banned from wearing shorts.'