This post is
long past due, and perhaps should have been the first post I made. Better late
than never, I suppose. I’m not sure whether many will read it, but I feel it’s
necessary to put it out there.
Men: overrepresented among the most brutal, filthy, and deadly jobs
I am an
advocate for equality for men and boys. Some people call me an advocate for men and boys, an
advocate for gender equity in education, or a men’s rights activist (or an MRA
for short). My online name is TCM, which stands for “The Common Man,” which is
indicative of the focus of the Men’s Movement on the inequities
disproportionately facing men and boys at the bottom of society, such as men’s
overrepresentation among prisons (~90%), military deaths (98%), suicides (80%),
workplace fatalities (93%), homelessness (85%), illness, school dropouts and under-enrollments,
and others. My specialization is education issues.
Mission
and Values:
·Educate the public on the issues and
needs of men and boys, especially in academic matters.
·Advocate the ideals of equality and
social justice, question the assumptions of traditional gender roles that are
limiting and harmful to men and boys, and compliment the current discourse on
gender equality.
·Take a stand against the phenomenon of
misandry – sexism against men and boys.
·Advocate a philosophy of
non-violence.
·Advocate the end of the zero-sum
approach to gender equity by stressing that for every women’s issue there is a
men’s issue, and that both sexes deserve our compassion and support.
·Support and advocate – in limited and
appropriate measures - civil disobedience in the face of unjust laws, codes, customs, policies, directives, etc.
Education is a core issue for men and boys, and can be categorized into three main areas: educational attainment, misandry, and civil rights. All three are severely entrenched problems.
As educational attainment among male students has declined over the last 40 years, the requirement of postsecondary education in the workforce has radically increased. The chart to the right is an excerpt from a presentation by Judith Loredo, Assistant Commissioner for the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, at the 2012 Project MALES Symposium
at UT Austin:
Also, men and boys in education:
Commit 80% of suicides (overall).
College men ages of 18-24 commit suicide at six times the rate of women. Sources here and here.
Are twice as likely to be diagnosed
with ADHD and 80% of those put on Ritalin (lower ed). Sources here and here
Are 75% of students diagnosed with
learning disabilities. Source here.
Are 33% more likely than girls to
drop out of high school. Source: Peg Tyre, “The Trouble with Boys.” Newsweek, January
30, 2006. Data cited from U.S. Department of Education.
Are much less likely to participate instudent government, academic clubs,
music, the performing arts, and student clubs. Source here.
Are suspended twice as often and
expelled three times as often as girls (lower ed). Source here.
By age 12, boys are 60% more likely
to have repeated at least one grade. Source: Peg Tyre, “The Trouble with Boys.”
Newsweek, January 30, 2006. Data from U.S. Department of Education.
Receive the majority of Ds and Fs and
the minority of As (lower ed). Source: Dr. Michael Gurian and Kathy Stevens, The Minds Of Boys:
Saving Our Sons from Falling Behind in School and Life. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass, 2005.
These gender inequities are apparent
across the lines of race and class, but tend to be more severe among male
students of color.
The gap between male and female
students in literacy skills is six times the gender gap in math skills (where
boys are ahead). Source: Educational Testing Services (ETS) Gender Study,
“Trends by Subject, Fourth through Twelfth Grades,” Figure 2-1. Cited in Misreading Masculinity by Thomas
Newkirk, p. 35.
The number of boys who said they did
not like school rose 71% between 1980 and 2001. Source: University of Michigan, Institute for Social Research,
Monitoring the Future Study, 1980 to 2001. Cited in National Center for
Education Statistics, Trends in Educational Equity of Girls and Women: 2004, p.
45, Figure 13: “How do you feel about school?”
Misandry
Misandry is sexism against men and boys. It can be
expressed in a myriad of ways. For a detailed and extensive definition, please see the page on misandry. Here are two examples:
When two young men were exonerated after being falsely accused of date rape at Vassar College, the Assistant Dean of Students Catherine Comins said:"Men who are falsely accused of rape can sometimes gain from the experience. They have a lot of pain, but it is not a pain that I
would necessarily have spared them. I think it ideally initiates a process of
self-exploration. 'How do I see women?' 'If I didn't violate her, could I
have?' 'Do I have the potential to do to her what they say I did?' Those are
good questions."
Here is a poster that for years was hung on the window of the Women's Resource Center at the University of Ottawa in Canada (source here):
Civil Rights
The most pervasive civil rights violations in schools today are free speech and due process violations. This is especially true for men and boys accused of sexual misconduct. For examples, see blog posts and videos (below) on The April 4th Directive (higher education) and Sexual Harassment Hysteria in Lower Education.
