The Rights Of Man

MFI SHOW NO REMORSE OVER BANNED AD SHOWING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST A MAN

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) this week banned an advertisement from furniture group MFI because it had received complaints that it trivialised domestic violence. See the full ruling here (link).

The ASA said "The woman's action of slapping her husband twice as punishment for leaving the toilet seat up gave the impression that aggression and violence enabled people in everyday life to get their own way. The scene of domestic violence was likely to cause serious or widespread offence and could be seen to condone intimidation, domestic violence and aggression as an acceptable way to resolve issues.”

In the adverts, produced by advertising group M&C Search, domestic scenes are played out in their stores and finish with the end credit "feel right at home".

In the articles that followed, MFI were quoted in the Daily Mail (link) as stating "The dialogue and action was vigorous but it was not offencive or shocking."  In addition, complaints had been made on five of their ads with the domestic violence one being upheld.

The Daily Mail stated 'Responding to the investigation, MFI said the five commercials had aimed to be an original, humorous take on common domestic scenes'. They try and defend the ad!

What is concerning is the fact that MFI and M&C Search did not even think that this is offencive, trivialises domestic violence and would upset the thousands of male domestic violence victims who already are bereft of help and support. It did not even cross their radar. It is almost as though they think it is acceptable behaviour and that raises a real social problem that male victims face, the lack of acceptance that their plight is serious.

The last point, is the usual one. If this ad had featured a man hitting a women, firstly, the outcry would have been deafening. But as ever, nothing from the Equal Opportunities Commission and other equalities groups because it was a man who was the domestic violence victim.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES COMMISSION TO MERGE IN OCTOBER INTO NEW COMMISSION: MEN STILL TO BE IGNORED

When, at the end of September, the Equal Opportunities Commission is subsumed into the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, do not believe that things will change for men.

After 30 years in existence, the plight of men has worsened and partly this is because the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) purposely ignoring male issues and promoting discrimination against men in the guise of positive discrimination for women.

One of the biggest changes in that period was the equalisation of retirement age but this clear discrimination was ignored by the EOC. It took campaigns from a charity called Parity (link) to make that happen, as with a number of other cases ofinstitutional sexism by the state against men on issues like prescription charges and bus passes.

When the changeover happens next month, the same old ignorance of the needs of men will be maintained and the same old refusal to deal with male sexual discrimination and male gender discrimination will continue.

There will still be no call for a Minister for Men, which the Equal Opportunities Commission does not support (link), despite actively supporting a Minister for Women.

There will still be the same old denial about the need to raise the profile of male domestic violence victims and how the education system is failing boys.

To get around the latter fact they even commissioned research this month to try and prove that class is the biggest factor affecting boys education, not the feminised education system (link). The EOC would never commission similar research if it was an issue affecting girls!

It also ignores issues around pensions, prostate cancer and other issues (see sidebar on the Minister for Men manifesto).

Just because the name on the door will change on 1st October 2007, the people will not, as nearly all will be joining the new Commission. Their ignorance of the needs of men will be harder to track as will facts like those revealed in August where it was shown that only 18% of employees (link) at the EOC were men.

The new EHRC will still ignoring men and only promoting women's issues.

It will still be promoting male discrimination under the politically correct guise of positive discrimination for women.

It will be the same old story that men will continue to be sexually discriminated against and the state will merely look on.

MALE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE VICTIMS IN BLACK COMMUNITY : EXCELLENT ARTICLE IN THE VOICE

There was an excellent article published in The Voice newspaper about battered men in January. It was orignally missed by this site but a helpful reader forwarded it. Please read it here (link).

BRUCE HYMAN CONVICTION IS A SALUTARY TALE FOR FATHERS

The sad tale of Bruce Hyman's conviction, in 800 years he is the first ever barrister to have been jailed for perverting the course of justice , is a salutary tale for all UK fathers.

Firstly and already covered here (link) it shows that fathers are the whipping boys and that family law and family courts are so accustomed to ruling against fathers, it was probably seen as a formality that he could get away with his crime.

His crime was to send a father an e-mail purporting to be from Families Need Fathers with information that could have helped his custody battle. When the father used it , Hyman then in court claimed the e-mail was false. The father proved Hyman had set him up, however, if it was not for the father's resourcefulness, then he would have been the one facing jail.

The story is well covered in the Telegraph (link), Mail on Sunday (link), The Times (Link) and The Guardian (link).

The other salutary tale surrounds the all too common victimhood claimed by friends of those who break the law. There was an outpouring of sympathy for Bruce Hyman from the great and the good, including actress Maureen Lipman.

No outpouring though about the sympathy needed for the father (and his children) who would have gone to prison if he hadn't proved he had been framed, and no doubt, for far longer than a year in these anti-male, all-fathers-are-bad- especially-if-they-want-access-to-their-children times. That is where the sympathy needs to be.

Families Need Fathers in their excellent style produced a release (link) on this story and the view from John Baker, their Chairman is 

"FNF is pleased to have played a part in ensuring that this case was fully investigated and one hopes that sharp practice of this order is exceptional. However, the English family courts are secret and in the normal course their proceedings are subject only to the limited scrutiny of the Court of Appeal. Much goes on in family courts that would be unacceptable if more widely known.”

DANGEROUS EVENT FOR BOYS : NEW CULTURE FORUM 24th SEPTEMBER

The New Culture Forum will be hosting an event on the evening of Monday 24th September. Please follow the link here (link) and the details copied from their site are below:-.

The event entitled The Dangerous Event for Boys : Has Education Become Too Feminised? will take place in at 6:30 for 7:00pm The Ideas Space, Clutha House, 10 Storey’s Gate, Westminster , SW1P 3AY.

THE DANGEROUS EVENT FOR BOYS will address the burning issue of what the Daily Telegraph recently called ‘the crisis in British schools: the failure to educate boys.’

From the huge shortage of male teachers, to the replacement of competitive exams with risk-free coursework, the removal of boy-friendly content in politically-correct textbooks and the compulsory discussion of feelings, Britain ’s education system is said to overly favour the natural instincts of girls. No wonder, say the critics, girls now vastly outperform boys in our schools. Boys can only succeed these days by being… girls.

The runaway success of The Dangerous Book for Boys suggests boys still long to be boys. But in our schools, male characteristics are being reclassified as behavioural disorders. Is a unisex approach to teaching and a feminine bias in the classroom betraying Britain ’s disengaged boys? Or are boys and girls really just identical – and do boys need to grow up and get with the programme?

The Dangerous Event for Boys will also consider the wider implications for society of a feminised culture in which male role models are increasingly rare. If boys can no longer be boys, can men still be men – or is it just coincidence that men are now routinely portrayed on television and in adverts as thick and feckless?

Hal Iggulden is co-author of The Dangerous Book for Boys, which has sold over a million copies.

Anthony Seldon is Master of Wellington College and a biographer of Tony Blair. He is the pioneer of Happiness Classes in schools

Ray Lewis is Founder and Executive Director of the groundbreaking Eastside Young Leader’s Academy

Sue Gyde has been teaching since the mid 1970's and has always been in the forefront of inclusive and interactive education. She is now Senior Advisor for Secondary School Improvement for one of the most successful boroughs in the country.

Spencer Drury is a teacher at Colfe’s, an independent boys school in South East London, and is Leader of the Conservatives on Greenwich Borough Council.

The discussion will be followed by a Q&A session. We hope you can join us.

RSVP to prwhittle@btopenworld.com or events@newcultureforum.org.uk

TV REQUEST : GENDER DIVISIONS

London-based television company Brighter Pictures are hoping to make a new programme about gender divisions in society.

They are looking for people who feel antipathy towards, or are uncomfortable with, members of the opposite sex; or more importantly for readers of this site, people who feel that the rights of members of their gender are being subjugated in today's society.

If any readers feel this way or know anyone who feels this way, they should get in touch with Andy at Brighter Pictures on - andy.cadman@endemoluk.com or 020 8222 4898.

Brighter Pictures have stated that all correspondence will be dealt with sympathetically and in complete confidence. They are looking for UK-based individuals only so if you are from the UK and feel this way, do get in touch with Andy as soon as possible.

ONE DAY CONFERENCE ON BATTERED MEN 'SUFFERING IN SILENCE': 5TH OCTOBER (SHEFFIELD)

The Sheffield based Sheaf Domestic Violence project is holding an invaluable one-day conference on 5th October entitled SUFFERING IN SILENCE which is looking at the hidden side of domestic abuse : Battered Men.

For the last eleven years Sheaf Domestic Abuse Project has supported men who suffer domestic abuse. Men from all walks of life suffer, there is no class or social distinction; factory workers, police. Social workers, military etc. Forget the macho image men are supposed to portray, they suffer too…...

The conference is between 9.30 and 4.30 on 5th October at:-

The Centre in the Park, Norfolk Heritage Park, Sheffield.

The cost is free for voluntary agencies and £10 for statutory agencies.

For more information, please contact SHEAF DOMESTIC ABUSE PROJECT on 0114 249 8881 or see here Download Conference.ppt

Speakers include Mark Scratchard and Andy Duncan from Families Need Fathers and Britain's leading expert on domestic violence against men, Dr Malcolm George FRS from Queen Mary and Westfield College, London University.

BOYS EDUCATION BEHIND AT SEVEN

Following the series of examination results this summer, boys at school are behind girls at every level and in practically every subject. As the results show here in the Daily Mail (link), boys are behind girls at the first stage of primary school, including a massive 11% behind at writing.

BRUCE HYMAN STORY SHOWS HOW FATHERS ARE THE WHIPPING BOYS

The story of barrister Bruce Hyman and how he is facing jail for perverting the course of justice after trying to effectively 'frame' a father fighting to get access to his children is a sad tale. 

He sent the father an e-mail using the Familes Need Fathers logo which the unwitting father then used to aid his case for custody. Buce Hyman was acting for the mother. The full story is here (link).

No-one quite knows what the motive was. However, what it does say is culturally in the UK, fathers are easy targets. I suspect Hyman set the father up because he thought that no-one would believe the father and therefore could get away it.

He was right except it was because of the father and his investigation that it transpired that it was Hyman who had sent him the e-mail.

It just confirms that fathers are whipping boys.