The Rights Of Man

TUC AND THEIR HYPOCRISY OVER "CAMBERWELL AND PECKHAM QUESTION"

Like many bodies and organisations trying to represent many different things or groups of people, they can end with 'twisted blood' in trying to ensure do not contradict themselves, act with hypocrisy or create a hierarchy of victims.

Nick Cohen's book "What's Left - How Labour lost its way" is brilliant at showing this where he describes the tautology of the left for example, in supporting the right to self-determination of muslim fundamentalists but not knowing what to do when this means accepting their mistreatment of women. 

The TUC last year issued a report on the plight of black boys and unemployment. Very worthwhile and very worthy - an issue we should all be concerned about.

However, its new leader, Frances O'Grady wants boardroom quotas for women. So if faced with one position on a board and the quota had not been met, she would place a woman on that board to meet the quota even if the other candidate was a black male - who not only may deserve the place because he is more talented but he would act as a brilliant role model for black boys to aspire to.

This is the ideological tautology of the TUC and how their concern for black boys is pure tokenism - gesture politics at its worst.

The question to ask O'Grady is similar to the West Lothian Question - it isthe "Camberwell and Peckham Question*" - does the TUC think a girl attending Roedean school faces more barriers and obstacles in her life and career than a black boy from a sink estate going to a sink comprehensive in Camberwell and Peckham. Seems like the TUC think the girl from Roedean is worse off to me.

Posted by Skimmington

*Camberwell and Peckham is the constituency of a certain Ms Harman 

 

MIKE BUCHANAN AND THE STRIDENT ANTI-MALE FEMINISM ON DISPLAY

Mike Buchanan was on the Daily Politics show yesterday (about 18 minutes in ) about gender quotas.

The peiece instantly revealed bias of course because it does not talk about the under representation of men in the public sector.

The interview with Louise Cooper (financial analyst) showed modern day anti-male strident feminism in all its glory as she said "...and in ten years time when we have lots of women running the world we won't need quota's" 

Suzy Stride, the Labour Parliamentary candidate in Harlow was selected via the ultimate in sexism - an all-women shortlist - so again she has benefited from sexism - no wonder she is in favour of more.

I still have some concerns about Mike's argument about focussing on performance and longitudinal studies when there are many women on boards. The issue for me is much more philosophical about equality and meritocracy, however, it still remains great that Mike is out there challenging the orthodoxy. Who else would be?

Posted by Skimmington

PS The issue remains very much alive in Europe

TAKING ON THE BBC'S FEMINIST BIAS (AND WINNING)

Readers may have recently seen the BBC article of the disproportionate impact suicide has on men, and I expect many were as confused by their coverage as I was. Although the article seemed to imply that thing had got worse for men, it also prominently stated that the rate of male suicide was "more than double" that of females.

Anyone with even a passing interest in such issues surely knows by now that men commit suicide at at least three times the rate of females in the vast majority of countries, with such contrasts especially common in reasonably "developed" countries. Therefore upon reading the article, one assumes the situation in the UK has much improved for men or that women have started committing suicide in much larger numbers than previously.

Hidden deeper in the article are the actual suicide figures for males and females, 4,552 men and 1,493 women, meaning the correct statement is "more than treble". The clear implication of the BBC using the statement "more than double" is that the quantity in question is NOT three times the rate, nor even approaching it, never mind more than this. Thus the BBC clearly downplayed the plight of men and misled viwers on the scale of the gender gaps in suicide rates.

In fairness to the BBC I contacted their correspondent Clive Coleman about his article, and it was fixed within two hours of my complaint. The excellent Newsniffer site shows us the history of the changes  regrettably, Clive didn't bother to thank me for helping tackle BBC bias, nor apologise, nor even acknowledge my complaint (other than fixing the article), thus I'm exposing the history what occurred here for all to see. This is far from the first time I've successfully complained about BBC's gender feminist bias in an article, for example their horrific smear of Dominic Raab was even more disturbing case.

I strongly encourage others to contact BBC staff directly about their bias when possible, the format for email address is [email protected]

Update - it's all worth noting that it's also misleading for the BBC to focus the begining of the article and gender differences on the raw figures for suicide, it's the suicide rate that is the key. There are almost 1.4 million more females than males aged 15+ in the UK (partly due to so many men killing themsleves), so whilst the raw figures for males are barely more than three times that of females, the actual rate is more comfortably exceeds three fold due to the female deaths being spread over a significantly larger population.

by John Kimble

MALE SUICIDE RISES AGAIN BUT GOVERNMENT AND HEALTH PROFESSIONALS DO LITTLE

This week, the annual suicide figures were released albeit covering up to the end of 2011:

• There were 4,552 male suicides in 2011 (a rate of 18.2 suicides per 100,000 population) and 1,493 female suicides (5.6 per 100,000 population).

• The highest suicide rate was seen in males aged 30 to 44 (23.5 deaths per 100,000 population in 2011).

• The suicide rate in males aged 45 to 59 increased significantly between 2007 and 2011 (22.2 deaths per 100,000 population in 2011)

As the Daily Mail pointed out, more men commit suicide than die in road accidents. There was more coverage in the Guardian and Independent. CALM's, Jane Powell was in the Guardian (Suicide is a gender issue)

Norman Lamb, the care services minister, said the figures caused very real concern, and they needed to be tackled "head on". This was after he launched a new suicide prevention strategy last year (if you click on the link at the bottom of the release it is broken - says it all).

So what are the issues.

Firstly, despite the biased rhetoric the recession and continuing problems in the job market will lead to more suicide and more amounts men (and women). Liverpool University showed that between 2008 and 2010, an extra 846 men had taken their lives and an extra 155 women.  When anyone from the Guardian, Fawcett Society, TUC and Labour Party state this remind them that men are literally dying because of the recession.

Secondly, the policy response in the strategy is startling and weak. If you compare the policy response to domestic abuse (c33% victims are male/66% are female) and suicide (c75% victims are male/25% are male) there are huge differences which prove once again the institutional discrimination faced by men in Britain.

For domestic abuse, the government strategy to tackle this is called Ending Violence Against Women and Girls  - and covers all genders (yes, I know, how can men be represented in a strategy called this and they get one mention). Yet the strategy for suicide is not gendered - it is not called Ending Suicide Amongst Men and Boys.

If there was no institutional discrimination and sexism against men then this is what the suicide strategy would be called.

The suicide strategy strategy's press release cannot even bring itself to mention men in the text (only in a fact at the end) even though the strategy does talk about men as the biggest high risk group. If 75% of those who committed suicide were women, it would run through it like words in a stick of rock. The strategy itself just seems full of public-sector speak with very little practical action. It looks like a tick box exercise. 

There is an argument rightly that strategies should be overarching but have gendered approaches within them if required (men and women are different and may need different approaches where necessary) so long as they do not negatively impact on the other gender. It is just the hypocrisy of highlighting gender when it affects women and not mentioming it when it effects men.

Posted by Skimmington

PARISH NEWS: MIKE BUCHANAN ON SUNDAY POLITICS SHOW

PLease follow this link for more information.

NHS MISANDRY - 5 A DAY ADVERT ON CAUSES OF OBESITY

More everyday misandry - on the taxpayer this one from the NHS (yes the very same NHS that treats men as second class citizens)- portaying men as buffoons. Seen on TV this weekend.

Posted by Skimmington

EQUALITIES AND HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION HYPOCRISY PROVES AGAIN MEN ARE NOT EQUALS

The contempt for equality at the Equalities and Human Rights Commission knows no boundaries when it comes to discriminating against men. It also proves that men have no chance of achieving equality or fighting discrimination when it comes to getting support from this sham hypocritical organisation.

Why not?

Well it has just appointed its new board of 10 commissioners and guess what - eight are women and two are men.

So where does that leave their campaign for meritocracy, equality and diversity in the boardroom when they do not practice it themselves.

Unbelievable.

Posted by Skimmington

DEMONISATION OF UNEMPLOYED MEN

Without wanting to get into the argument about strivers versus skivers which is part of the government's view of life, the Conservative Party's latest advert is striking in its negative portrayal of men. Here they show a skiver as being a man loafing on his sofa.

What is sad about this advert is not just the context that we are still in the economic mire so there are plenty of people (2.5 million) who are unemployed (including 1.5 million claiming Jobseeker's allowance) but this includes 1.4 million men and 1.1 million women.

So with the figures showing roughly 55% men and 45% women - does that mean the next poster will be a female skiver on the sofa.

No I doubt it either, because it is easier to stigmatise men rather than women. That's the way is in the discriminatory UK.

Posted by Skimmington

CANCER RACE FOR LIFE - JOHN TAYLOR UPDATE

Latest from John following last year's letter

Sunday,
6 January 2013

M Pragnell Esq.,Chairman,

Cancer Research UK

Dear Mr Pragnell

OPEN
IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST

WHY WERE THERE NO BOYS IN YORK’S RACE FOR LIFE - OR TRURO‘S?

WAS YORK PRESS & YORK MINSTER FM SENT PRESS RELEASES ?

WAS TRURO’S LOCAL MEDIA ?

Alas, because I have not yet received your considered reply to my Recorded Delivery
letters of 13th October and 1st December 2012, I send this with information, received in an e-mail from Cancer Research UK...

"A man's lifetime risk of developing cancer is set to reach one in two by
2027"

I now repeat the questions posed in my Recorded Delivery letter of, 13th October:

Were York Press and York Minster FM sent Press Releases re the rule change allowing boys under age eleven (11) to participate in Race for Life?

Was the local media in Truro ?

To conclude, I stress, the information re males lifetime risk increasing to 1 in 2 by 2027 - is another "Glaring example" why males should be allowed to participate in Race for Life throughout the UK"

I trust you will endeavour to allow males to participate in Race for Life - possibly under a new name brand "Race for Life Together" , or "Race Together for Life"...

I look forward for your considered response - re Press Releases being sent to York Press and York Minster FM; also the local media in Truro ? Also, re males being allowed to participate in Race for Life....

With

kind regards,

John
Taylor

>>>
Together - we will beat cancer <<<

NEWS UPDATE

A few from the last week or so

BBC - What jobs are male and what are female (Mark Easton): An old one from last year that I had not seen before.

Fighting Feminism - An attack by the V Spot (Mike Buchanan)

Daily Mail - Bring on quotas for women says TUC chief (Anna Edwards)

Daily Herald - Scotland lacking in male primary school teachers (Andrew Denholm)

Evening Standard - Soho restuarant continues trend in women-only bars (Emer Martin). Unless this is a private members club then KC’z Bar general manager and entrepreneur, KC Gates, will be breach of equality laws. See pubs and clubs section here.

Daily Telegraph - Government failing female entrepresneurs (Emma Barnett): More pleas for special treatment and discrimination against men. This time from Labour MP Seema Malhotra.

Amazon - Review on The Highway Rat (Tony Iqeq)

A Voice for Men - Interview with Erin Pizzey  

Daily Mail  - Diane Abbott MP says feminism destroyed the family (Tim Shipman)

The Observer - UK's top firms more male-dominated than FTSE rivals, new data reveals (Simon Goodley)

Daily Mail - Bias in the justice system (Peter Lloyd)

Daily Mail - John Leslie says false allegations destroyed my life

Posted by Skimmington