Feminist writer Rebecca Traister and I debated the question “Is America Bashing Its Men?” in the June issue of Atlanta Life Magazine (pictured). Traister is a staff writer at Salon.com who has written for the New York Times, New York Magazine, and others.
Traister and I didn’t agree on much of anything. We were asked the following three questions:
1) Why are men’s issues in the areas of divorce, child custody and support, false accusations of rape, and discrimination in the workplace and in society almost never covered by the mainstream news media?
2) It seems atypical to see men in commercial advertisements represented as hard-working, competent individuals who are respected authority figures in the family. Why do you think this is?
3) What do you think accounts for the fact that girls are enrolling and graduating from college at a much higher rate than boys? Does this fact highlight other educational disparities between boys and girls?
In response to question 1, Traister asserted that men’s and fathers’ issues plenty of media attention, citing the Duke rape controversy and coverage of the Alec Baldwin and Anna Nicole Smith cases as evidence. My answer to the question was as follows:
“One, men don’t tend to complain, and most people don’t like to hear men complain. A woman who complains is a victim; a man who complains is a whiner.
“Two, the women’s groups are well-organized, have a long history, and a large influence on the mainstream media.
“Three, many of the injustices men face are in areas which can’t easily be made into short sound bites. The media doesn’t like to get into divorce/child custody because when you do, you’re immediately in the realm of he said/she said. Whatever you’re discussing is intensely personal and private, which invites legal problems.
“Four, media people are college educated, so they’ve been influenced by the anti-male feminism from their colleges’ Women’s Studies departments. They graduate saddled with misinformation about gender issues, and this makes them less likely to pay attention to men’s concerns.
“Five, while feminists would have us believe that men are complicit in a patriarchy designed to make themselves privileged, in reality most men care far more about women’s feelings and hurts than they do about men’s. When confronted with a problem facing women or a problem facing men, most men will address the former long before the latter.”
The debate is available on line–click here and go to pages 12 through 15.
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