19 December 2005

A woman without a man is like a fish without a...


I came across this interesting post on the WSJ. It lists a number of concerns with the overemphasis by our society on female issues. Despite the necessity in correcting some gross inequities, there has been a trend in recent time to marginalize men.

There has been a government funded report on the status of men in one state. The report, from a remarkably stoic and independent state, New Hampshire, is interesting in its own right.

Personally, I have often wondered at the fate of the male half of the human species. In an increasingly "civilized" world, much of our genetic advantages are no longer needed.

Reflecting upon a very recent unpleasant event, my older son asked me,

"why didn't you use your words?".

I could only reply that "sometimes words will not work."

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow. Powerful. I think this also ties into your comments a few weeks back about men, fathers especially, are often treated as buffoons in sitcoms, etc. etc....often, however, men have brought the marginilazaion among themselves by playing into the pizza eating video game inarticulate stereotype you see on Domino's ads and Adam Carrolla talk shows....The Man Show comes to mind. Is that the image men of America want to emphasize? Yet a lot of them buy into it and emulate it.....

Citizen Deux said...

Who buys into that? My contention is that men were originally shoved to the side as the "civil rights" movement gained steam. This hit a head in the mid 70s with ERA and the shift in attention to women's issues.

The assault has gone unchallenged for many reasons. One is that there was legitimate ground to concede. And yet now we see a society (the US) in which aman enjoys less legal protection than a woman.

This is evidenced in the traditional arenas of custody, paternity and domestic laws as well as now emerges in education and healthcare.

The analogy fo the Man Show is a better example of some bitter rebellion, rather than "proliferation of the stereotype". It is an easy stereotype to buy into. If you have been relegated to a second class citizen, sometimes it is easier to ride along.