UK: Whatever you do on Father's Day, don't buy into the fear of 'men deserts'

Submitted by Mastodon on Sat, 2013-06-15 17:06

Article here. Excerpt:

'We live in an era of "men deserts", says the Centre for Social Justice. One day my children will look on me with worshipful eyes and say: "Mother, how did we survive the man drought of the early 21st century?" as if I'm some Mad Max of the spunkless years. This Sunday is Father's Day, the traditional time to pay tribute to any man you haven't driven screaming from your fanny ghetto after mating. But what to buy?
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The report criticises agencies that intervene in cases of domestic abuse for failing to recognise fathers as caregivers, on the grounds that "many perpetrators desire a more positive relationship with their children, and this can be a powerful motivator for change." Here, the CSJ is subordinating the safety of children to the potential self-improvement of abusers. Because this report, with its wobbly stats and its exaggerated claims, isn't actually about what's best for children: it's about the fear that some women and children might be perfectly OK without a masculine hand hanging over the household.'

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No problems here.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/15/opinion/blow-these-children-are-our-future.html?_r=0

'This week, the research group Child Trends released a statistical portrait of the high school class of 2013, compiled by a senior researcher, David Murphey. The numbers were depressing.

The report imagines a hypothetical class of 100 graduates. Of those, it estimates that:

  • 71 have experienced physical assault, 28 have been victimized sexually (10 report that they have been the victims of dating violence in the past year, and 10 report they have been raped), 32 have experienced some form of child maltreatment, 27 were in a physical fight, and 16 carried a weapon in the past year.
  • 64 have had sexual intercourse, 48 are sexually active, 27 used a condom and 12 were on birth control pills the last time they had sex; 21 percent had a sexually transmitted infection in the past year; three or four of the young women have been or are pregnant, and one has had an abortion.
  • 39 have been bullied, physically or emotionally — 16 in the past year; 29 felt “sad and hopeless” continually for at least two weeks during the past year; 14 thought seriously about attempting suicide, and six went through with the attempt.
  • 34 are overweight, and 22 are living in poverty (10 in deep poverty).

Those statistics are shameful.'

Things didn't look like this when children and their dads lived together in the same house for the children's entire childhood. I mean really, what more do you need?

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Submitted by Matt on Sat, 2013-06-15 17:50