The Rights Of Man

NEWS UPDATE INCLUDING ANNOUNCEMENT ON MEN'S POLITICAL PARTY

Hi everyone - thank you for sending through new stories and reporting the broken link (restored hopefully below).

I haev also caught up on the debate on the comments in teh comments section about Mike Buchanan's announcement of a political party and the Daily Mail article so have updated this post with the news.

The Guardian - Education is leaving boys behind (Ally Fogg)

Daily Telegraph - Women's unwelcome Xmas present (Jo Swinson - Minsiter for Women and Equalities): As expected, anti-male feminists do not like equality unless it benefits women. Note Minister for "Women and equalities" - no mention of men. Not sure what to make of this  from actor David Webb

Daily Telegraph - Stuntman's wife charged with domestic abuse 

Daily Mail - Amy Winehouse's ex hits out at false rape accusation (Mark Duell)

Posted by Skimmington

CHRISTMAS EVE NEWS UPDATE

Sorry for slackness, here are a few from the last week or so and thank you to those who sent them on.

Daily Telegraph: So you think you know about homeless (Cathy Newman) - No one wants to see anyone homeless, man or woman, but what would be good is to see an article about why 85% of those who are homeless are men and what is to be done about them - and of course those women in the same boat. There is a lazy acceptance that men being homeless is Ok and acceptable.

Daily Telegraph: Sexual display around board table is why women won't succeed (Louisa Peacock) - Coverage of Steve Moxon and Mike Buchanan at a recent select committee.

Daily Telegraph:  How Louise Mensch and the A-List will make it harder for women (Cathy Newman) - Ms Newman is taking on the we need special treatment and discrimination against men mantle in the Telegraph.

Daily Telegraph: Will Jimmy Saville case put men off from childcare (June O'Sullivan)

Daily Telegraph: Fathers earn more, mothers earn less (Patrick Hennessy) - Proof of the strength of the family unit and the clear cause of the diminishing gender pay gap - not discrimination against women.

BBC: Five things about women in the press - Nothing about all men being portrayed as idiots or potential sex offenders.

BBC: Child Abductions up 88% - FCO press release but Huffington Post says 70% of abductions are by mothers so why is this not in the headline. If it was 70% men then the headline would 'fathers responsible for spiralling numbers of child abduction cases'.

Daily Mail: Connors' family jailed for slavery (Mark Deull et al) - Now lets never hear a story about slavery in Britain without men being a core part of the narrative.

Front Page (US): Women's Studies and the spread of men hatred (Ben Bawer)- Plus watch the link to the Toronto video to see full-on misandry.

BBC News: Teenage fathers feel marginalised - Research by Barnado's show how teenage fathers are ignored and never thought of by the authorities. Groundbreaking work by the charity not only because of the research itself but just the fact it is putting it out there and speaking up for fatherhood. The report says the authorities are "driving fathers apart from their children through a ‘culture where fathers are not valued."

Daily Telegraph: A dad is tenth most wanted Christmas present (Hannah Furness): Perhaps if their mothers had not gone through the family courts to stop them enjoying life with their fathers then this would not be an issue.

BBC: Nurse kills baby in botched circumcision and calls for a ban

BBC: Half of men to get cancer by 2027 - The story touches upon but does not delve into why there is no effective screening for men and why there is such a lack of pace in making it happen. The Men's Health Forum are as pathetic as ever, blaming men for not getting screening for bowel cancer rather than taking on the authorities who do not tell men it is available.

The Sun: X Factor glasses ex and avoids jail (Alice Everley) - Equality in British courts and this laughably weak sentence shows what happens when you have campaigns against women going to prison. The subliminal message gets to judges.

The Guardian: More protection needed in family courts (Amelia Hill): Notice how the judge mentions crimes committed by 'fathers' and others by 'parents' - I wonder if the 'parents' were mothers but it would do to mention that in the Guardian.

Daily Mail: More boys put off university than girls due to hike in fees (Laura Clark) - Mary Curnock Cook, UCAS chief executive, said: ‘The fact that women remain more likely to enter higher education than men are  to apply is a striking and worrying finding.’ So what is she and government going to do about it? 

The Guardian - Education is leaving boys behind (Ally Fogg)

Merry Xmas everyone and thank you for your support.

Posted by Skimmington

NETMUMS SURVEY SHOW THE EMPRESS HAS NO CLOTHES

Returning to a Netmums survey I highlighted in October (half way down), there was a number of areas that showed how young women were rejecting the term feminism and women of all ages now saw that radical feminism was divisive and anti-male.

This was why in October the survey was met with such hatred from anti-male radical feminists because it shows the "empress has no clothes" and does not speak for mainstream women (this is my favourite response). They feel vulnerable because it undermines their ability to garner cheques for writing in The Guardian, running organisations such as the Fawcett Society and Equality and Human Rights Commission and a myriad of other public sector jobs. No more lecture fees on 'gender studies' courses.

The four key statistics in the survey were:

• Younger women are least likely to embrace the term. 25% of women aged 45 to 50 described themselves as a 'Feminist'. But just 9% of those aged 25 to 29 identified with it and only 8% of women aged 20 to 24.

• 39% criticised old-fashion Feminism for being too divisive, claiming they 'don't want to be equal - women are different to men and we should celebrate the differences.'

• Almost a third (28%) think traditional radical Feminism is 'too aggressive' towards men while a quarter (24%) no longer view it as a positive label for women. One in five describe Feminism as 'old fashioned' and simply 'not relevant' to their generation.

• In subsequent questions, 17% even claim Feminism has gone too far, oppressing men and 'losing sight of the natural roles of men and women

This can be seen by the female-led backlash to the infamous Daily Mail article from Esther Walker.

It shows the rejection by mainstream women of radical feminists because they are starting to see that it is driven by a hatred of men and also the conseqneces of it in their own lives. Female graduates see their boyfriend counterparts are still unemployed, mothers see their sons falling behind at school and wives see their husbands blocked from senior positions in companies because of activities of quota campaigners such as the 30% Club. 

The anti-male radical feminists whose existience depends on capturing the media, infesting the universities and public sector, and haranguing politicians do not speak for women. Modern women have said "not in my name".

 Posted by Skimmington

WHY DID THE "BIGOT IN A BRA" THINK IT WAS RIGHT TO PEN SUCH AN ARTICLE?

The fallout from Esther Walker's article on Monday about "beastly boys" continues to rightly attract deserved criticism. The fact that it has had 1,446 comments so far speaks volumes and the condemnation from women (mothers of boys especially) is very heartening.

Peter Lloyd's critique "Bigot in a Bra" is devastating not just for what he says about the article but his articulation of the bias against men. It is good that the Daily Mail has someone on their books clearly standing up for male equality. He is suing Kentish Town Sports centre for these women-only swimming classes.

As regular contributor Brian said on Monday:

To make the point of the above comment really clear, replace the word "Boys" in the article with any of the following words and see the reaction:

Nxxxxx
Jew
Asians
Homosexuals
Girls

and ask why has this woman not been arrested or at the very least sacked?

As well as the issue Brian mentions there is the issue about the thought process in the midns of both writer and editor - similar to why advertising agencies and companies think anti-male adverts are Ok but they would never dream of running an anti-women advert.

Why did she think it was right to hold these views and then write about them and then why did the Daily Mail think it was Ok to publish them? it says a lot about modern-day feminism's view of men and boys.

Posted by Skimmington

USING POLITICAL TRIANGULATION TO ATTACK MEN

A PR trick invented in the 90's in terms of political discourse and much loved by Clinton and Blair was triangulation.

This is where you take two different issues (or groups of voters) and find a way of enabling both issues to conjoin. Blair did it by convincing Labour's traditional voters and disillusioned Tory voters that he was on both of their sides at the same time. He won three elections on the back of it!

The relevance here is the use of triangulation by anti-male campaigners. A classic example is in this piece of utterly biased and sexist research from Houston that appeared in the Daily Mail. The issue raised by the 'researchers' is that:

Women who work are more likely to be abused by  male partners than women who don't, a study has found.

Here we see the triangulation of domestic abuse and working women. The whole aim of the research is to demonise men so that working women fear having successful careers and a husband/partner. The issue is compounded when the research does not seem to look at whether a man is more likley to be a victim if he and his wife/partner have successful careers, just the women.

On other domestic abuse news, we see an article in the Daily Telegraph about the effect of the recession of domestic abuse (19% rise over three years) where while the NCDV's comments are gender neutral the picture and comments from Refuge are obviously not. The journalist takes the easy option to portray men as the perpetrators when I suspect any increase is actually committed by men and women (and of course - more men are committing suicide because of the recession).

Yvette Cooper a few weeks ago 'forgot' that male victims exist and Rahila Gupta in the Guardian does not believe there is such a thing as a male victim. The article is written as if it is straight from a set text on a typical men-hating gender studies course.

Fortunately, more grassroots organisations are ignoring this and providing services based on reality - as can be seen in Redcar.

Posted by Skimmington

VICTORY FOR FATHERS AS NSPCC ADMITS DEFEAT IN ITS DEMONISATION CAMPAIGN

Sometime ago I wrote about how by campaigning and complaining responsibly, rationally
and without being too inflammatory (albeit I know it can be hard) will bear fruit. Also
campaigning using the language of equality, using hard facts and ensuring support from women are other key success factors.

Tonight, via friends from the UKFRM Yahoo Group I was emailed the news that Sean Geoghegan has secured a brilliant success against the NSPCC.

This Christmas they have been running a campaign that states "All I want for Christmas is daddy to stop hitting me".

This is despite the fact that their own figures (in a post by the ManKind Initiative chairman on the group) show that mothers are more likely to be the perpetrators of violence against their children, especially so against their daughters. We have also shown the way the NSPCC ignores their own figures here before. The NSPCC campaign was only aimed at abuse fathers not mothers (or mothers and fathers).

The NSPCC (who have form as we know in not telling the whole story - see NSPCC letter in News Update) had got tetchy when they received complaints and issued this statement.

 Now they have capitulated completely and withdrawn the ad in an email to Sean.

 We are always grateful for feedback on our campaigns and the one you're referring to has generated some interesting points for consideration. There has been much discussion about the `All I want for Christmas…' adverts and, on reflection, we have decided to discontinue these specific adverts but
continue with others such as those for our `Letter from Santa' product.

The NSPCC firmly believes that gender bias plays no part in preventing cruelty to children and we have always said that men and women are both capable of cruelty to children. And of course both parents are equally important in protecting children and giving them a happy and healthy upbringing. The NSPCC works with both fathers and mothers who are struggling with a range of problems, through our family support and parenting services http://bit.ly/11FMVf9.

We really appreciate you taking the time to contact us with your feelings about this campaign. It would be sad to think that we have offended anyone through an activity which was only ever intended to improve the lives of vulnerable children around the UK.

I hope that our removal of this campaign helps to reaffirm our impartiality  when it comes to gender and our support of the positive roles both fathers and mothers can play in children's lives.

This is a significant victory not just in itself, but also in setting a precedent, within both the NSPCC and other organisations who wish to demonise men/fathers. Especially so when their own figures do not stack up.

One issue remains of course is their whole thought process in terms of deciding to run such a one-sided ad which actually went against their own evidence. Institutional sexism is the only conclusion. 

Sean and those others that complained in the right spirit have secured a landmark victory and all fathers (and all those who support fathers) should be grateful to them.

 Posted by Skimmington

STALKING LAW CHANGE - MEN RELEGATED TO SIDELINES

This week is always depressing as the UN International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (with 16 days of campaigning) swings into action. Not that anyone would want to not end violence against women, it is both the demonisation of men and also the blind eye taken to the domestic and sexual violence that men suffer that sticks in the gullet.

Quite prescient considering I saw Coronation Street resurrect the Tyrone domestic abuse storyline tonight.

There are always announcements and a good example is the one on two new stalking laws yesterday. It was great that men were included in the Home Office release. It also showed that as with domestic abuse - one in three victims are male.

Then you look to the coverage - commentary from the Home Secretary only mentions women. The home page of the Home office website only mentions women. So  does the Daily Mail with the Minister Jeremy Browne doing all he can to avoid mentioning men. The  Telegraph does not mention men either.

As for Wales, they are pretty unreconstructed and this new White Paper and campaign on teenage relationships does not mention men or boys. Only girls suffer in Wales according to this.

Happy to list any other examples of the 16 days of Action being used to demonise men.

Posted by Skimmington

MIKE BUCHANAN AT THE HOUSE OF COMMONS CAMPAIGNING FOR EQUALITY

Last week, we mentioned Mike was appearing at the Select Committee into Women in the Workplace. Please read his comments about it (here and here) and he kindly has supplied a link (1 hour 34 mins in) so you can watch the appearance. Must see TV and shows how sensible and responsible activism can succeed.

Posted by Skimmington

NEWS ARTICLES

Hi Everyone

A couple of things - first as you know sometimes my work and other activities mean I am unable to keep up with posting which sometimes leaves the site looking a bit outdated. It means many readers link new articles or news in the latest post. I think this does those who kindly do that a grave disservice because they want to start a debate but I cannot keep up.

One way around this is to go back to A-level days ( I would have said O-level but only those of a certain vintage would know what I meant!) and if I post something like "GENDER PAY GAP NEWS - PLEASE DISCUSS", due to a news item then readers can comment away.

Happy for comments on this and here are some latest news articles anyhow - in no particular order:

The Guardian - Why do so few men take gender studies courses (Jane Martinson): An amazing article when gender studies should be renamed men-hating studies. The front of it.

Lords Select Committee - Women on Boards report

Daily Express - We are the battered husbands (Sadie Nicholas)

Daily Mail - BBC News snubs economist becuase he is a man (Tom Kelly)

The Independent - Movember, why would a woman grow a moustache (Rita Amin)

Daily Mail - Met Police could be sued for promoting women (Martin Beckford)

Daily Mail - Men are better at multi-tasking (Mark Prigg)

The Guardian - It's time to break the glass ceiling (Viviane Reding): Reding desperately wanting sexism

Men's Network - German government funds men's conference

Daily Telegraph - French minsters attend sexism classes : There is a women's ministry. These classes sound like sonme Opus Dei-like self flaggelation!

The Guardian - Female experts wanted (Caroline Criado-Perez)

The Guardian - Government reforms place domestic abuse victims at risk (Alexandra Topping): Men not mentioned.

The Guardian - Boardroom quotas are dangerous (Zoe Wood)

Equalities and Human Rights Commission - Equality Advisory Service launched

Business Insider - F4J want Asda advert banned (JIm Edwards)

The Guardian - Judge wants poistive discrimination for female judges (Owen Bowcott) Lord Sumption, another sexist judge

CBBC - Should Guides just be for girls

Ally Fogg - Reconciling feminism with the Men's Movement

The Guardian - Gender discrimination is banned, car insurance and annuities (Patrick Collinson)

Daily Telegraph - Male presenters on Today too aggressive

Daily Telegraph - Girl Guides are the ultimate feminist organisation

Sunderland Echo - Vera Baird pledges to not bother about male victims of domestic abuse

The Guardian - Men to blame for not going to Doctors (Jamie Doward): Always men to blame

Reddit - British male nursery teacher speaks out

Daily Mail - Women winning gender pay war

Daily Mail - 20% of primary schools have no male teachers (Laura Clark)

Posted by Skimmington

MISANDRIST QANTAS JUMPS ON THE MOVEMBER BANDWAGON

Having witnessed years of neglect of men's' health I've been very pleased with the success of Movember this year, and it's excellent to see such issues finally getting some much needed attention. One new feature of this year's Movember is for airlines to places a moustache on their aircraft, not only do they look great, they really help raise awareness too.

Regrettably, there are still some very misandrist airlines out there who regard all men as untrustworthy child abusers and insist unaccompanied minors are only ever seated next to females on flights. One would have though that any airlines that hate men to this extent would have absolutely no interest, nor any right to have an interest in Movember, yet bizarrely Qantas have decided to take part.

Men's health isn't a simple, isolated issue where men simply go to the doctor more often or where research into cancer finally gets the funding it needs. It isn't even simply about exercise and healthy eating either. "Health" is inseparable from all other aspects of a person's life. To be healthy we need to have good mental health, home life, social relationships, self worth, and self esteem. Ultimately, just like anyone else, men need to be treated fairly, with dignity and respect.

Unfortunately, Qantas blatantly hates adult males and has no regard for their health whatsoever. As Lord McAlpine can now testify, to falsely brand a single man as a child abuser is a horrific crime, and such allegations clearly take a considerable toll on the health of the victim not to mention putting them at risk of violence. However, Qantas doesn't falsely smear one single male, but every adult male who steps on one of its planes. To openly operate a discriminatory policy suggesting all men potentially abuse children damages society and lives immeasurably. It fuels the unfair outcomes and sexist culture of the family courts, it contributes to the culture where men are unable to work as teachers or with children in other roles. It encourages further false allegations against males and the type of atmosphere where parks and other venues become no go areas for men. Above all else, it endorses the hatred of men we see from gender feminists and encourages their attacks on our society.

Simply put, false smears of child abuse against men damage their health. If Qantas cared the slightest for men (and children) they'd end their sexist seating policy immediately and apologise for their years of misandry. Instead, they pretend to like men, and paper over the cracks by painting  a symbol of masculinity on their planes, a symbol their policies associate with mistrust and child abuse. Put simply, you can't claim to care about a man's health whilst simultaneously falsely branding him a child abuser. Ending such policies and admitting how hateful they are would arguably achieve more for men and their position in society in the long term than every penny raised by Movember this year.

by John Kimble