Caitlin Moran: what’s gone wrong for men – and the thing that can fix them

Article here. Excerpt:

'It was the response I got on social media that made me think I’d stumbled on to something bigger than I initially thought. On Twitter a few years ago, I asked what I thought was a pretty simple question: “Men – lovely men of Twitter. Hello! The last 10 years of feminism means we’re always discussing the problems of women on here. But what are the problems of men? What do you find makes your man-life difficult?”

The responses flooded in. “Paternity leave, if you can get it, is much shorter than maternity leave.” “We have very few avenues to emotionally express ourselves. We’re supposed to fit this stereotype of being tough, and only wanting to touch if it comes with sex. But I want a hug and head pats, dammit!” “Father’s Day is so depressing. All the cards depicting golf, or whisky. I’m an acid house survivor who owns two chickens called Bez and Barry Mooncult. Society seems not to think I might have reproduced.” “Suicide is still the biggest cause of death for men under 50 [in the UK] – and yet we seem not to have a plan to address that.” “In hot weather, your balls can get so hot and sweaty they stick to the side of your thighs, like clammy bats in a cave.”

But one type of reply came up time and time again. “Is this a trick?” “Are you asking this so you can laugh at us?” “Is this a feminist trap – are you going to retweet all of these, with the reply, ‘Look at the men complaining about nothing – while women continue to endure all the true suffering’?” Boys, and men, have become so used to being the conversational whipping boy, and the punchline to jokes, that they could not believe that a feminist writer was genuinely asking them to talk about their problems.'