The familiar castigations against men for simply being male have become all too familiar in both standard media and the never-ending screeches of the not-so-social media. Yet these are rebukes and taunts that can be suffered. What should not be ignored in a supposedly fair society is the increasing regulations being imposed by government and academia on half of the population simply because of their sex.
Whilst many, especially those of a more left-leaning disposition, may argue that it is the sins of the patriarchy that are deservedly being revisited upon the sons, any who claim to be for a more equal society need to take a cold, hard look in the mirror at the pernicious denigration of men and the dangers that this vitriol harken.
Male Privilege?
Anger and hatred towards men has been argued as the cost of “male privilege,” and therefore a cost that should be borne. But there are already costs that are associated with being male.
- In the U.S. men are 3.5 times more likely to commit suicide than women.
- In the U.K., suicide is the biggest killer of men aged under 45.
- Men die five years younger than women in most industrialized countries.
- Family courts overwhelmingly favor mothers; in the U.K., 85% of legal aid goes to mothers rather than fathers.
- Almost half of all domestic abuse victims are male.
This list does not include the staggering sexual assault statistics that suggest up to half of all rape victims are male, of which less than 10% are reported.
The real issue, however, is that despite these numbers, both males and females still dismiss the psychological trauma using phrases such as “man up,” or “be a real man and deal with it.”
Re-Education Programs
White male British professors at several colleges and universities in the U.K., are to be assigned “reverse mentors” in order to help them understand their “unconscious bias.” These mentors will be young women of color, and according to the mind behind the program are in place to make the professors feel “uncomfortable.”
The British Labour party (U.K. equivalent of the Democratic Party) recently held an Equalities Conference to look at ways and methods of increasing “fairness” in society. They began by banning straight white males from attending.
A Michigan University law study found that men are more harshly sentenced in court compared to women for the same crime even when previous convictions are taken into account. But the issue is not always a sentencing one.
Sarah Jeong
And this brings up the larger issue. In today’s divisive climate, it is pre-supposed that men not only have anything to offer on the subject of equality, but that their very speaking on the subject should be opposed with rancour and bile.
New York Times writer and editor, Sarah Jeong, recently made headlines with her disgraceful comments about men (white men in particular) and to date remains uncensored and unpunished. It is the fact that being able to espouse hatred against a group of people with impunity, and indeed with loud applause from many, that encourages the idea that men have “nothing to offer” on a given topic.
Toxic Masculinity
And we still lack an answer as to why the male suicide rate is so high? When one’s very being is considered “toxic” by those with the power to incite mobs, control employment prospects, and even access to one’s own children, surely, we cannot be too far from solving this elusive question.
When a man complains about mistreatment, he is mocked and ridiculed, and ultimately told he deserves it for historical male treatment of others. This builds, rather than decreases what many on the left refer to as Toxic Masculinity.
Perhaps the time has come to begin respecting each other and start looking for a genuine path to equality that is not littered with the broken bodies and minds of desperate young men.
