I was recently contacted by a reporter who is looking for fathers who fit any of the following three profiles:

1) Fathers who married their pregnant girlfriends or lovers in part to protect their parental rights, but upon divorce discovered that their parental rights weren't truly protected anyway.

2) You impregnated your girlfriend or lover but you did not want the child and said so. However, she had the child anyway, and now you're stuck paying child support.

3) A father who feels that he personally was treated fairly--I said fairly--in family court.

If this is you, please send me your name, phone number, and a brief (100 words max) description of yourself by clicking here.

[Note: Thanks to all those who responded to my request last month for struggling married couples. The show I was recruiting you for was Inside Edition, and the couple from my list (pictured above) appeared on the show January 9.

Thanks also to all those who responded to my October request for Texas dads with child support issues. Three of those who responded to our notice appeared on a Fox Houston TV special on dads and child support on November 5. To watch that show, click here.]

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

The American Coalition for Fathers and Children The American Coalition for Fathers and Children is dedicated to creating a family law system which promotes equal rights for all parties affected by divorce. Contact the ACFC at 1-800-978-3237 or visit them on the web at www.acfc.org.

Parenting Plan Calendar Software Shared Ground (R) is an easy-to-use software program designed for divorced parents to track their parenting plan schedules over many years. Do-it-yourself or let us build your approved parenting plan into a multi-year calendar so that you can print, share, or modify the calendar later. Parents, attorneys, arbitrators and mediators can generate equitable parenting plans, which is especially useful for parents seeking fair division of their children's time. FREE ASSISTANCE TO OUR CLIENTS- $49.95 one-time charge, FREE TRIAL & MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE. Click here for more information.

Girl Accuses Construction Worker of Rape--an Unbelievable Outcome

a) An outpouring of support and sympathy for the falsely accused construction worker.

b) A tearful apology from the false accuser to the falsely accused construction worker.

c) A tearful apology from the false accuser's parents to the falsely accused construction worker.

d) A call for increased awareness of false allegations of rape.

e) A call for increased vigilance against construction workers.

If you picked "e", you're correct. The unbelievable story is below.

I suggest readers contact the reporter, Gina Davis, and ask her why a story of a man being terribly victimized was instead turned into an exercise in anti-male fear-mongering. She can be reached at 410-494-2938 or at gina.davis@baltsun.com.

Sun reporter Jennifer McMenamin, who also contributed to the story, can be reached at 410-494-2940 or at jennifer.mcmenamin@baltsun.com.

To write a letter to the editor of the Baltimore Sun, email letters@baltsun.com.

Police say girl lied about school attack
Perry Hall Middle student was not assaulted, they say
By Gina Davis
Baltimore Sun, 1/12/08

A sixth-grade girl at Perry Hall Middle School lied about being sexually assaulted this week in a school restroom, Baltimore County police said yesterday.

Based on their investigation, police concluded that the incident did not occur, said Bill Toohey, a county police spokesman.

Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott D. Shellenberger said that prosecutors have reviewed the facts of the case and decided not to charge the 11-year-old girl.

"The [girl's] family acted extremely appropriately," Shellenberger said, "and we've decided that the situation is better handled in the family and not in the criminal justice system."

County schools spokeswoman Kara Calder said yesterday that she did not know whether the girl would be disciplined by school officials, and would be prohibited in any event from discussing the issue because of student privacy concerns.

The girl described her alleged attacker as a construction worker employed on a renovation project at the school, but police determined that he had no involvement, Toohey said.

Police said their investigation included interviewing the girl and the worker and reviewing video from one of the school's 18 surveillance cameras.

About 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, the girl reported to the principal's office that a man had followed her into the restroom between classes and sexually assaulted her, police said. The girl said she fought off the man, ran out of the restroom and reported the attack to a county police officer stationed at the school, police said...

To read more and to discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

Postcards from Splitsville (Part VI)

The drawing above was taken from Kara Bishop's www.postcardsfromsplitsville.com. Bishop works with Children of Divorce, a class run by Tucson, Arizona-based Divorce Recovery. The class did an art project that included "sending away" the frustrations of divorce. The website is a place where Kara says "children can share their divorce-related feelings anonymously and parents can get a new perspective on how this life-changing experience impacts their children's lives."

To learn more, click here. Kara can be reached at Kara@PostcardsfromSplitsville.com.

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

Is This You? Researchers Are Looking for Men Who've Been Assaulted by an Intimate Partner

A note from Jan Brown, founder of the Domestic Abuse Helpline for Men and Women:

"The Men's Experiences with Partner Aggression Project is a research study at Clark University and is funded by the National Institute of Mental Health. Denise A. Hines, Ph.D., Clark University Department of Psychology, is the lead researcher on this project.  She is conducting this project in conjunction with Emily M. Douglas, Ph.D., Bridgewater State College Department of Social Work, the Survey Center at the University of Southern Maine, and the Domestic Abuse Helpline for Men and Women.

"Our goal is to better understand the experiences of men who are in relationships with women who use violence. Extensive research has shown that men are at risk for sustaining partner violence in their relationships, yet few studies have investigated their experiences, and there are few resources available to such men. This is an under-recognized problem in the United States, and by conducting this research project, we hope to provide much needed information on these men, their relationships, and their needs.

"If you are a man between the ages of 18 and 59 and you have been physically assaulted at least one time in the last 12 months by a current or former intimate female partner you may be eligible to participate in this study.  If you are interested in participating, please call the DAHMW at 1-888-743-5754  or  email dahmwagency@gmail.com for information about the study and directions for participating. For more information about DAHMW visit their website: http://www.dahmw.org/."

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

His Side with Glenn Sacks Radio Commentary: Finally Some Sense in the War on Drugs

I oppose the War on Drugs, and am particularly appalled that we've locked up hundreds of thousands of minority men for nonviolent drug crimes.  I also very much oppose the vastly disparate penalties for crack cocaine and powder cocaine--a disparity which treats black offenders far worse than white offenders. The Commission's new reform addresses this issue.

To listen to the commentary, click here.

To learn more, see my blog post Some Good News in the Racist 'War on Drugs'.

His Side with Glenn Sacks radio commentaries are broadcast daily on KLAA AM 830, a 50,000 watt talk station in Los Angeles and Orange County. KLAA AM 830 is owned by Arte Moreno, owner of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

From 2003-2005, His Side with Glenn Sacks ran in a syndicated talk show format in Los Angeles, New York City, Boston, Seattle, and other cities. To listen to show archives, click here.

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

Pandering Politicians, Immigrant-Bashing, & 'Deadbeat' Dad-Bashing

"The crops are all in and the peaches are rotting,
The oranges piled in their creosote dumps;
They're flying 'em back to the Mexican border
To pay all their money to wade back again...

"Some of us are illegal, and some are not wanted,
Our work contract's out and we have to move on;
Six hundred miles to that Mexican border,
They chase us like outlaws, like rustlers, like thieves."--from Woody Guthrie's "Deportee"

In this Lalo Alcaraz cartoon, presidential hopefuls are taking turns beating up on an immigrant man. Immigration reform is certainly a legitimate issue, but I can do without the relentless immigrant-bashing. Divorced fathers should remember--the same pandering politician who draws applause for beating up on "illegal immigrants" today probably beat up on "deadbeat dads" yesterday, and will do so tomorrow, too.

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

Venus: The Dark Side--Female Sociopaths (Part I)

There are male sociopaths and there are female sociopaths, but female sociopaths are rarely discussed. In Venus: The Dark Side, authors Roy Sheppard and Mary T Cleary discuss this important subject in depth.

Sadly, the female sociopath they describe sometimes sounds like the vindictive or alienating or abusive ex-wives readers write me about. Sheppard and Cleary write:

"Sociopaths are notoriously difficult to spot because most of them are incredibly adept at hiding their true self and their motives. Since childhood the female sociopath may have developed complex and often subconscious methods to deceive her targets. On the surface she appears excessively friendly and charming. In fact, an early warning sign is that you suspect she is too good to be true. She probably is.

"Occasionally she may let the mask slip. In isolation these behavior traits are unreliable indicators, but if you witness a number of them, a queen of manipulation may be operating on you.

"She is an aggressor and she picks fights with opponents who have been duped into believing she is a friend or a lover. Once she befriends her victims, she relies on their reasonableness to forgive her transgressions. However, most of her actions are hidden, because she has learned to fight with invisible weapons and wields them with the deadliness and accuracy of a samurai warrior. Invariably, you don't see anything until the fight is over and she has won.

"She is capable of being furious if she is ignored or is not given what she wants. She has mastered the art of expressing an opinion so forcibly and convincingly that it takes on the appearance of being a fact.

"Her regular tantrums involve swearing, shouting, intimidation and threatens. She will wear people down until, for a quieter life, they agree with her. Interestingly, what she threatens to inflict on others is what she would find most damaging and hurtful to herself. Equally interestingly, she feels criticism and humiliation intensely, even if none is intended or given, and she will fight ferociously to defend what she sees as an attack, whether or not there is one. Sometimes she will create a threat in her mind merely to defend and excuse what she knows to be her own dreadful behavior...

To read more and to discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

(The above contains excerpts from Venus: The Dark Side, Copyright (c) Roy Sheppard and Mary T Cleary 2007. www.VenusTheDarkSide.com.)

Disgraced Former Olympic Star Tries to Use Her Kids to Get Out of Jail Sentence

"Marion Jones was sentenced Friday to six months in prison for lying about using steroids and a check-fraud scam, despite her plea that she not be separated from her two young children 'even for a short period of time.'

"'I ask you to be as merciful as a human being can be,' said Jones, who cried on her husband's shoulder after she was sentenced...

"As she beseeched the judge for a lighter sentence, the disgraced former Olympic champion talked at length about her children, including the infant son she's still nursing."--SI.com, 1/11/08

Throughout the family law system and to a lesser degree the criminal law system, mothers are able to avoid taking full responsibility for their actions, misdeeds, or crimes by hiding behind their children. Disgraced former Olympian Marion Jones tries the same shtick here, though (surprisingly) it didn't work too well. If she were white and as pretty as Debra Lafave she probably could have avoided jail altogether.

The full story is below. Thanks to Ronald, a reader, for sending it to me.
 

Jones hit with six-month sentence
SI.com
January 11, 2008

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) -- Marion Jones was sentenced Friday to six months in prison for lying about using steroids and a check-fraud scam, despite her plea that she not be separated from her two young children "even for a short period of time."

"I ask you to be as merciful as a human being can be," said Jones, who cried on her husband's shoulder after she was sentenced.

U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas gave her the maximum under her plea deal "because of the need for general deterrence and the need to promote respect for the law."

As she beseeched the judge for a lighter sentence, the disgraced former Olympic champion talked at length about her children, including the infant son she's still nursing.

"My passion in life has always been my family," Jones said. "I know the day is quickly approaching when my boys ask me about these current events. I intend to be honest and forthright ... and guide them into not making the same mistakes."

The sentence completes a stunning fall for the woman who was once the most celebrated female athlete in the world. She won three gold and two bronze medals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

After long denying she ever had used performance-enhancing drugs, Jones admitted last October she lied to federal investigators in November 2003, acknowledging she took the designer steroid "the clear" from September 2000 to July 2001. "The clear" has been linked to BALCO, the lab at the center of the steroids scandal in professional sports.

She also admitted lying about her knowledge of the involvement of Tim Montgomery, the father of her older son Monty, in a scheme to cash millions of dollars worth of stolen or forged checks. Montgomery and several others have been convicted in that scam. They include Jones' former coach Olympic champion Steve Riddick, who was to be sentenced later Friday...

To read more and to discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

I Have to Agree with Debra Lafave on This One

Background: I've little sympathy for Debra Lafave (pictured), who at 23 statutorily raped a 14-year-old boy. She got the female sentencing discount and did not go to jail because she's a woman. That being said, the recent media furor over her seems rather petty.

In screaming headlines the New York Post reports in EX-TEACHER DEBRA LAFAVE BUSTED AGAIN (12/4/07) that Lafave had "illegal contact with a teenager."

Sounds sinister, right? Turns out that all Lafave apparently did was have a private conversation with a 17-year-old girl she works with. It does violate her probation, but it hardly merits such sensationalism.

According to Lafave Remains Free Despite Probation Violation, Lafave "violated her probation by talking with a 17-year-old co-worker about sex but will face no additional penalties...Circuit Judge J. Rogers Padgett found Debra Lafave violated her probation by having the conversations, but he said her transgressions were 'neither willful or substantial.'"

I would have to agree--the probation violation seems to be incidental and much ado about nothing. The full article is below.

To learn more about the female sentencing discount and my sentiments about these types of cases, see my recent blog posts Debra Lafave, Media Sensationalism, and Rethinking Statutory Rape and Extreme Gender Bias: Woman Who Statutorily Raped Boy Avoids Jail, While Boy's Older Brother Goes to Prison for Exact Same Crime.

Lafave Remains Free Despite Probation Violation
January 11, 2008

TAMPA, Fla. -- A teacher who admitted having sex with a middle school student violated her probation by talking with a 17-year-old co-worker about sex but will face no additional penalties, a judge ruled Thursday.

Circuit Judge J. Rogers Padgett found Debra Lafave violated her probation by having the conversations, but he said her transgressions were "neither willful or substantial."

According to a Department of Corrections report, Lafave discussed her personal life and other subjects with a teenage waitress at a restaurant where they have both worked for the past two years. One of the terms of her probation was that she was not allowed to have unsupervised contact with any minors without permission.

Lafave is serving three years house arrest and seven years probation after pleading guilty to having sex with the 14-year-old boy in a classroom and her home in June 2004. Her case became tabloid and media fodder because she had recently been married and had posed in skimpy outfits in modeling photo shoots.

Lafave and her attorney argued that the conversations were made in a group setting and that she never made any effort to contact the girl outside of work.

The department will continue to monitor Lafave, Padgett ruled.

Lafave testified Thursday that the conversations were candid, but she said that was because the restaurant was so small.

"We all acted like brothers and sisters," she said...

To read more and to discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

The Feminist Intentional Walk

In political debates on gender issues, feminists often "intentionally walk" strong opponents in order to deal with weaker ones. The purpose is to avoid arguing with articulate, reasonable advocates and instead get easy wins by counterposing feminist views with those of the loonies, misogynists, conspiracy theorists, homophobes, and others who inhabit the nether regions of the fatherhood movement.

One recent example is feminist Peggy Drexler's recent Huffington Post column Of Basters And Bias (12/31/07). Drexler, who authored Raising Boys Without Men: How Maverick Moms Are Creating the Next Generation of Exceptional Men in 2005, is an advocate for Single Motherhood by Choice and lesbian double mothers.

It's one thing to be respectful of gays and gay parents. It's quite another to engineer a deceptive study and use it to assert that lesbian families are a better environment in which to raise boys than heterosexual families, as Drexler has done. In Drexler's world, lesbian families--protected from fathers and their toxic masculinity--are the best environments in which to raise boys. Married heterosexual mothers try their best, but the positive influence these hapless moms try to impart to their children is overwhelmed by that of the malevolent family patriarch.

I have criticized Drexler's work in several newspaper columns, including Are Boys Really Better off Without Fathers? (San Francisco Chronicle, Seattle Post Intelligencer & others, 9/6/05), Raising Boys Without Men: Lesbian Parents Good, Dads Bad (World Net Daily, 9/10/05), and Are Single Mothers the 'New American Family?' (World Net Daily, 9/28/06).

Drexler is aware of these criticisms. Yet in Of Basters And Bias, as she has done many times, Drexler disparages opponents of Single Motherhood by Choice by quoting a few cranks who wrote nasty letters and blog comments. Instead of quoting and critiquing my arguments or those of other critics such as Maggie Gallagher, she quotes loony gems such as, "Go back to Russia where you belong, you commie bitch."

Well, in the spirit of Russia and commies, it was Lenin who said that the proper way to win a political debate is to counter your opponents' best arguments, not their worst. Peggy, if you want to make a convincing and intellectually honest argument, you'll have to deal with real opponents and real arguments. But you won't. So even though I'm certainly no Barry Bonds, I guess I'll just shut up and walk to first base...

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

An Interesting Perspective from 1955 on Gloria Steinem's Assertion That White Women Have It Harder than Black Men

She went on to imply that women have and have had it worse than black men:

"Black men were given the vote a half-century before women of any race were allowed to mark a ballot, and generally have ascended to positions of power...What worries me is that some women, perhaps especially younger ones, hope to deny or escape the sexual caste system."

In reality, the average white woman is vastly more well-off than the average black man, now or at any other time in American history. I've previously cited this 1955 New Yorker cartoon, and believe it's also applicable here.

The well-heeled woman in the department store is seen (accurately) as privileged in society--a privilege partly transcendent of and partly linked to her gender. The cartoon's punchline--what complaint could a white woman have compared to those of a black man--is as true today as it was 50, 100, or 200 years ago.

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

John Edwards Praises His Dad for Sacrificing to Support His Family

Edwards has mentioned this on several occasions, and some say he's using his dad as a prop. Regardless, it's nice to see his dad and others in that generation of men given their due.

One of the greatest distortions of modern feminism is the way the sacrifices that tens of millions of men like Wallace Edwards made have been disregarded. I detailed this in my column Hate My Father? No Ma'am! (World Net Daily, 4/8/02), criticizing the "successful feminist re-writing of the pre-feminist past as a virtual dark ages where men lived like nobles and women were their serfs." I wrote:

"Tens of millions of male blue collar workers--who put their bodies on the line in the coal mines and steel mills so their wives and children could live in safety and comfort--have been turned into oppressors. Their wives and children, for whom these men sacrificed so much, have been turned into their victims..."

To read more and to discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

Boy Scout Foils Assassination Attempt on President of the Maldives

"COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - A quick-thinking Boy Scout foiled an assassination attempt on the president of the Maldives on Tuesday, grabbing an attacker's knife as the man leapt from a crowd and lunged at the leader, an official said.

"President Maumoon Gayoom was unhurt, but his shirt was ripped as the attacker tried a second time to stab him before being overpowered by security guards, government spokesman Mohammed Shareef said.

"'One brave boy saved the president's life,' he said.

"Mohammed Jaisham Ibrahim, wearing his blue Maldives scout uniform with a blue kerchief, was standing in the crowd to greet Gayoom on Hoarafushi, one of the 1,190 coral islands in the Indian Ocean that make up the Maldives.

"The attacker hid a knife in the Maldivian flag as he awaited Gayoom's arrival, then lunged at the president, Shareef said.

"Ibrahim reached out and grabbed the blade, and he was cut on the hand, according to the government.

"There was blood on the president's shirt, but it was not his but the boy's," Shareef said...

"Boy Scouts in the Maldives are similar to their U.S. counterparts, receiving training in first aid and participating in activities like camping. Their motto is the same as well: 'Be Prepared.'"

The full article is here.

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

Fathers & Families News Digest, 1-14-08

Below are some recent articles and items of interest from Fathers & Families' latest News Digest.

Triplets' surrogate mom can keep child support (Pittsburgh Post Gazette, 1-7-08)

Sheriff's Dept. sweep targets child support scofflaws (The Tribune Democrat, 1-8-08)

Child support warrants to be served (Cherokee County Herald, 1-10-08)

Making change (Dickinson Press, 1-10-08)

Minister apologizes over child support bungle (The Star, 1-12-08)

Penalties differ on deadbeat parents (Associated Press, 1-13-08)

After holiday season comes annual divorce rush (National Post, 1-13-08)

After divorce, take steps to smooth parenting issues (Indianapolis Star, 1-14-08)

Unqualified mediators prey on broken families (Toronto Star, 1-14-08)

Manhunt out for 3 year old girl and mother (Business Gazette, 1-14-08)

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here, or visit the Fathers & Families blog here.

Is This Legal?

No, that's not a misprint.

It's actually, for once, man good/woman bad.

Is this legal?

To watch the commercial, click here.

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

Gloria Steinem: 'What worries me is that some women hope to deny the sexual caste system'

"Gender is probably the most restricting force in American life, whether the question is who must be in the kitchen or who could be in the White House...Black men were given the vote a half-century before women of any race were allowed to mark a ballot, and generally have ascended to positions of power...What worries me is that some women, perhaps especially younger ones, hope to deny or escape the sexual caste system."--Gloria Steinem, 1/8/08

Gloria Steinem recently lashed out at the patriarchy in the New York Times op-ed Women Are Never Front-Runners. Note the title. I'm actually a little surprised at Steinem--the quote above sounds like something she would have said in 1970, not now.

I would also hotly dispute her contention that black men have done so well--the average white woman is vastly more well-off than the average black man, now or at any other time in American history. Comedian Chris Rock apparently agrees with me. In a recent routine he asked:

"How can you compare the suffering of a white women to the suffering of a black man? It's not even close!"

Steinem's op-ed is below.

Women Are Never Front-Runners
By Gloria Steinem
New York Times, January 8, 2008

THE woman in question became a lawyer after some years as a community organizer, married a corporate lawyer and is the mother of two little girls, ages 9 and 6. Herself the daughter of a white American mother and a black African father -- in this race-conscious country, she is considered black -- she served as a state legislator for eight years, and became an inspirational voice for national unity.

"I'll bet that Barack Obama cries sometimes, as does Bush, as does McCain. The only person I suspect does not cry is Mitt Romney though he probably has hired some very talented people to cry for him."

Be honest: Do you think this is the biography of someone who could be elected to the United States Senate? After less than one term there, do you believe she could be a viable candidate to head the most powerful nation on earth?

If you answered no to either question, you're not alone. Gender is probably the most restricting force in American life, whether the question is who must be in the kitchen or who could be in the White House. This country is way down the list of countries electing women and, according to one study, it polarizes gender roles more than the average democracy.

That's why the Iowa primary was following our historical pattern of making change. Black men were given the vote a half-century before women of any race were allowed to mark a ballot, and generally have ascended to positions of power, from the military to the boardroom, before any women (with the possible exception of obedient family members in the latter)...

To read more and to discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

Hillary Clinton's Candidacy--Female Scientist Says 'Women's opinions aren't taken seriously'

"Many men claim that this is not because they are women but is only because of their particular, individual personalities. But how can that be the case? Nowhere near 90% of the powerful men are criticized in this manner. If successful women have strong opinions, the are demonized and considered you-know-whats. The weak, wishy-washy women are sometimes promoted, and in my opinion this may be because they are not threatening. The most strong, successful, and able women are almost never promoted to positions of real power...

"So although I do not like Hillary Clinton's politics very much, I think it is important to give her latitude in the way she campaigns, I think it is important to give her latitude in the way she campaigns. There is no female precedent, and yet a woman will not and cannot act exactly like a man does. She is breaking new ground and should be given credit for that."--Betsy Barton, scientist

Betsy Barton, a scientist who frequently reads and comments on this blog, wrote an interesting blog comment response to my recent blog post Gloria Steinem: 'What worries me is that some women hope to deny the sexual caste system'. I thought it merited its own blog post because her perspective on sexism is interesting. And since my daughter says she wants to be a scientist in Betsy's specialty when she grows up, whenever Betsy talks about her career, I pay close attention.

I would also ask this--for women who work in male-dominated professions, do Betsy's observations ring true? And for men who work with a few women in male-dominated professions, have you seen women endure the sexist treatment Betsy alleges?

From Betsy Barton:

I completely agree that voting for Hillary because she is a woman is sexist. Absolutely. I completely agree that Steinem systematically fails to recognize that the feminist movement has now given women many unfair advantages over men. In fact, I completely agree with many of the criticisms made in the comments after this article. It's shameful that as a public figure, Ms. Steinem does not hold herself to a high standard of evidence, truth, and fairness.

However, it is important to note that Steinem's intellectual dishonesty itself does not negate every point she makes. She made some points that I believe are true. I do not think that men should now pretend that all the bias is in favor of women. In my opinion, most of the directly government-sponsored bias is unfairly in favor of women. But some of the remaining cultural bias is in favor of men. Here are some of the things Steinem says that I agree with, at least partially:

(1) "Gender is probably the most restricting force in American life, whether the question is who must be in the kitchen or who could be in the White House."

I don't know it that it is the *most* restricting force, but it still plays a huge part in people's lives. It restricts both men and women. (Really, that's why we're all here.)

(2) "...anything that affects males is seen as more serious than anything that affects 'only' the female half of the human race"

This is an exaggeration and does not apply to most of the current actions of government, but in my experience, there are elements of truth to it. Women and their opinions are often not taken seriously. Perhaps I can see it so much because I work mostly with men, and perhaps it would be the other way around if I worked mostly with women. But overall, is it not the case that we think the things men traditionally do are "important" and that the things women traditionally do are not?

(3) "...because there is still no `right' way to be a woman in public power without being considered a you-know-what."

I think this one is important and true. Of course, my experience is limited, but in my profession, powerful women are very few and very far between. Unfortunately, 90% of the successful women in the 40 and 50-something generations in my field are criticized all of the time, in personal and extremely offensive ways...

To read more and to discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

'I didn't want a dad in the child's life...I'm not denying my children anything'

Background: The issue of Single Motherhood by Choice has been getting a good deal of press lately. For some examples, see There's no shame in going solo, says mum (Guardian Unlimited, UK, 11/4/07) and Knocking Yourself Up--The ongoing debate over going it alone (Newsweek, 11/5/07). To watch me debate Single Motherhood by Choice on Fox's nationally-syndicated Morning Show with Mike and Juliet, click here. To learn more about Single Motherhood by Choice, click here.

To learn more about what research says about the importance of fathers, see my co-authored columns Why Dads Matter (Houston Chronicle, 6/18/06) and Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls Tells an Important Truth About African-American Fathers (Los Angeles Watts Times, 6/14/07).

Australian Single Mother by Choice Clare Edwards has one child via a sperm donor and says she wants to have 10 more. When asked if it is right to inflict fatherlessness on her present and future offspring, she says:

"I didn't want a dad in the child's life...I'm not denying my children anything."

This TV report explains that Edwards "lives on government handouts" and "being a modern woman gives her that right to make that decision [to have fatherless kids]."

We can see where Edwards, 21, gets it from--her mother says that her grandchildren "need male role models but it doesn't have to be a father." As I've noted, "male role model" is code for "I'm too selfish to want to compromise with the father of my children, and having a husband may limit me or be inconvenient, so I'll just cut dad out of the child's life or use a sperm donor and, when (and if) convenient, shop for 'role models' for my son."

In my column Raising Boys Without Men: Lesbian Parents Good, Dads Bad (World Net Daily, 9/10/05), I explained:

"[Single Motherhood by Choice advocate Peggy] Drexler does allow that some male figures can be positive for boys. Who? 'Grandfathers, godfathers, uncles, family friends, coaches'--in short, anybody but dad. In fact, boys being raised without fathers benefit because they enjoy 'more male figures in their lives than boys from traditional families.' But more does not mean better, and a group of men with little stake in a boy's life are a poor substitute for a father's love and devotion to his children. Nor can they provide the modeling that boys need--the best way for a boy to learn how to become a good husband and father is to watch his father do it."

To read more and to watch the video, click here. Thanks to Stephen, a reader, for sending it.

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

Dr. Warren Farrell's Shared Parenting Evidence Kit--What You Need to Win Shared Physical Custody Dr. Warren Farrell, a top expert on children of divorce now offers a complete evidence kit to help you win shared custody.  The DVDs, audio CD and electronic files summarize the best scientific research available collected over decades.  Scientific research has proven that children do far better with near equal time with both parents with minimal conditions.  This video set was developed to educate parents, judges, lawyers, psychologists and other divorce professionals. Most judges are doing exactly what is worst for children with sole-custody.  Submitted as evidence this will maximize your chances. Divorce Reform groups call(508) 381-1450 to use as fundraiser. www.BestInterestofChildren.org