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Report Says Kindergarten Boys Being Suspended
for Sexual Harassment; New Column

April 8, 2008

 
New Column: Media Reaction to New Housework Study Minimizes Men’s Work, Sacrifice for Their Families

"CNN says 'Report: Men still not pulling weight on chores.' Major newspaper headlines include: 'Home equity? Men are doing more chores, but women still do most,' 'Men still slack off, but not as much,' and 'Men do more housework, but not yet a fair share.' Several hundred newspapers and media outlets are covering a new Council on Contemporary Families report on men and housework. The message is clear--yes, men have improved a little, but they still don’t do enough, and women are still getting a raw deal.

"This is a terribly unfair distortion..."

My new co-authored column, Media Reaction to New Housework Study Minimizes Men’s Work, Sacrifice for Their Families  (Tucson Citizen, 4/1/08), criticizes the misleading reporting of a new study on men’s housework and child care. The original Associated Press article is Men still not pulling weight on chores (CNN, 3/6/06).

To write a Letter to the Editor of the Tucson Citizen concerning Father knows rest? 2 men beg to differ (4/1/08),  write to letters@tucsoncitizen.com.

The column, co-authored with family law attorney Jeffery M. Leving, is below.

Media Reaction to New Housework Study Minimizes Men’s Work, Sacrifice for Their Families
By Jeffery M. Leving and Glenn Sacks

Reach 7.5 Million
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Are you looking for an affordable way to reach  7.5 million readers a year with your business or organization? My blog and my websites GlennSacks.com and HisSide.com receive over 400,000 unique visits a month. My weekly E-Newsletter has over 55,000 subscribers, and is by far the world's largest regularly distributed E-newsletter devoted to family law reform, fatherhood and fathers' issues. Contact us for more information.

CNN says “Report: Men still not pulling weight on chores.” Major newspaper headlines include: “Home equity? Men are doing more chores, but women still do most,” “Men still slack off, but not as much,” and “Men do more housework, but not yet a fair share.” Several hundred newspapers and media outlets are covering a new Council on Contemporary Families report on men and housework. The message is clear--yes, men have improved a little, but they still don’t do enough, and women are still getting a raw deal.

This is a terribly unfair distortion because it disregards the fact that men are usually their families’ primary breadwinners, and often make great sacrifices in that role. Studies which account for the total amount of work that husbands and wives contribute to their households--including housework, child care, and employment--confirm that men contribute at least as much to their families as women do.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2004 Time Use Survey, men spend one and a half times as many hours working as women do, and full-time employed men still work significantly more hours than full-time employed women.  Census data shows that a quarter of married women with children under 18 do not hold a job outside the home, and less than half work full time.

A 2002 University of Michigan Institute for Social Research survey found that women do 11 more hours of housework a week than men but men work 14 hours a week more than women. According to the BLS, men’s total time at leisure, sleeping, doing personal care activities, or socializing is a statistically meaningless 1% higher than women’s. The Families and Work Institute in New York City found that fathers now provide three-fourths as much child care as mothers do—50% more than 30 years ago.

Yet even these studies understate men’s contributions because they only count the hours devoted to a task without measuring the physical strain and/or danger associated with it. A man doing eight hours of dangerous construction work in the 95-degree heat is credited with no more "work" than a woman who works in an air-conditioned office. A man driving a truck, taxi or heavy equipment under hazardous conditions is equated with a woman caring for her children or making dinner in the comfort and safety of her own home...

To read more and 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.

Sexual Harassment? 'When Randy was 6 he smacked a classmate's bottom...as Randy sat in the principal's office, they called the police'

Today's Washington Post details a nice example of where feminist sexual harassment hysteria (combined with a litigious society) leads:

"In his seven years, Randy Castro has been an aspiring soccer player, an accomplished Lego architect and a Royal Ranger at his Pentecostal church. He also, according to his elementary school record, sexually harassed a first-grade classmate.

"During recess at his Woodbridge school one day in November, when he was 6, he said, he smacked the classmate's bottom. The girl told the teacher. The teacher took Randy to the principal, who told him such behavior was inappropriate. School officials wrote an incident report calling it 'Sexual Touching Against Student, Offensive,' which will remain on his student record permanently.

"Then, as Randy sat in the principal's office, they called the police...

"Randy is only one of many children to be dealt with harshly as schools across the country grapple with enforcing new zero-tolerance sexual harassment policies and the fear of litigation.

"The Virginia Department of Education reported that 255 elementary students were suspended last year for offensive sexual touching, or 'improper physical contact against a student.' In Maryland, 166 elementary school children were suspended last year for sexual harassment, including three preschoolers, 16 kindergartners and 22 first-graders, according to the State Department of Education. Statistics for the District were not available.

"In 2006, a kindergartner in Hagerstown, Md., was accused of sexual harassment after pinching a female classmate's buttocks. A 4-year-old in Texas was given an in-school suspension after a teacher's aide accused him of sexual harassment for pressing his face into her breasts when he hugged her.

"Ted Feinberg, assistant director of the National Association of School Psychologists in Bethesda, said he had never come across a case of sexual harassment in elementary school in his three decades in the schools. To label somebody a sexual harasser at 6 'doesn't make sense to me,' he said. 'Kids can be exploratory in behavior, they can mimic what they see on TV.'"

The "sexual harassment in schools" hysteria began in the early '90s, and I was a teacher at the time and I remember it well. There was a directive to the administration at the high school where I was teaching to lay down the law on sexual harassment, so the Dean of Discipline went from class to class giving a ringing speech about sexual harassment.

I liked him personally, but he was a law & order type and would go overboard sometimes. I remember listening to him giving a threatening lecture to my class--correction, to the boys in my class--about sexual harassment. The definition was so wide and vague (including "looks") that practically any boy could have been penalized under it if a girl wanted to bring him down.

Afterwards I said to the guy, "The definition of sexual harassment seems pretty broad. The boys can get in trouble just for looking at the girls, but some of the girls are doing everything they possibly can to make the boys want to look at them."

His reply was predictable--"Those are the guidelines we've been told to enforce."

The policies detailed in the Washington Post are vastly more absurd than this, since they deal with elementary school boys.

The full article is Kids dealt with harshly as schools grapple to enforce zero-tolerance policies (The Washington Post, 4/2/08) by Brigid Schulte. Thanks to Robert, a reader, for sending it.

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.
 

Faced with a Divorce? Need Help with Family Law? Child Custody? Child Support? Parental Alienation? False Accusations?

Check Out Glenn's New Family Law Help Directory. The Directory Has Experts From All over the Country Who Can Help You

Swedish Official on Environmental Problems: 'Women give priority to others – men invest more resources in themselves'

I recently debated Gerd Johnsson-Latham of the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs on her assertion that men are primarily responsible for global warming. Johnsson-Latham authored a 2007 study called Gender Equality as a Prerequisite for Sustainable Development. The carbon footprint diagram to the right--can you guess which carbon footprints are male and which are female?--is from the report. 

Our debate was taped for a UK documentary called The Greener Gender.  To learn more, see my recent blog post Glenn Debates Swedish Official Who Claims Men Are Primarily Responsible for Global Warming.

Johnsson-Latham makes several questionable assertions in her study. Some of the headings in her study include:

"Women give priority to others – men invest more resources in themselves."

"Women suffer more from lack of time than men – in other words, men have more leisure time than women..."

"Women have only a limited range of options – men have a wider range..."

"Women are poorer than men – in other words, men are richer than women..."

She also writes:

"A Norwegian study by Nyberg and Sto shows that a global ‘consumer class’, primarily middle class, is to be found worldwide, displaying similar preferences and consumption patterns – and gender specific differences.

"Like other groups, this large group of middle-class consumers is constantly influenced by commercials and by popular culture such as soap operas that are screened all over the world and that show what is expected of ‘a real man’ and ‘a real woman’ in terms of relationships, lifestyles and consumer choices.

"As it is vital to human survival to be socially accepted, we as individuals are prepared to confirm our affiliation, e.g. in the shape of gender. This means that we constantly reaffirm our gender roles, in our gestures, our clothing, our behaviour etc, on a daily basis, several times a day, as Judith Butler and others have pointed out.

"For men, it is often a question of affirming one’s masculinity in terms of power, authority, skills, risk-taking, and the potential use of violence etc.

"For women, it frequently involves being attractive and caring etc, and not questioning or being viewed as a threat to male authority."

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.
 

 Fathers & Families: Advocacy for the Child-Father Bond
Fathers & Families is a non-profit organization advocating for the right of every child to have two parents. Fathers are an essential part of a child's life--divorce or separation should not change this. www.FathersandFamilies.org

FALSELY ACCUSED IN TEXAS?
Domestic Violence. Child Sexual Assault. Child Protective Services Defense.
Contact the Law Office of Stuckle & Ferguson
www.PaulStuckle.com / falseaccusations@stuckle-ferguson.com

Steve Moxon's The Woman Racket
The Woman Racket is a serious scientific investigation into one of the key myths of our age – that women are oppressed by the ‘patriarchal’ traditions of Western societies. Drawing on the latest developments in evolutionary psychology, Moxon finds that the opposite is true – men, or at least the majority of low-status males – have always been the victims of deep-rooted prejudice. As the prejudice is biologically derived, it is unconscious and can only be uncovered with the tools of scientific psychology. Moxon reveals this prejudice in fields as diverse as healthcare, employment, family policy and politics.

Glenn Debates Swedish Official Who Claims Men Are Primarily Responsible for Global Warming (Part III)

Background: I recently debated Gerd Johnsson-Latham of the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs on her assertion that men are primarily responsible for global warming. Johnsson-Latham authored a 2007 study called Gender Equality as a Prerequisite for Sustainable Development.

Our debate was taped for a UK documentary called The Greener Gender.  To learn more, see my recent blog posts Glenn Debates Swedish Official Who Claims Men Are Primarily Responsible for Global Warming and Swedish Official on Environmental Problems: 'Women give priority to others – men invest more resources in themselves'.

A few other notes about our debate:

Johnsson-Latham said that in many countries of the world women work 16 hours a day and men only work five or six or eight, and that men spend their money on alcohol and prostitutes instead of their families.

At one point Johnsson-Latham asked, "If you were a woman wouldn't you be part of the women's movement?"  I said that was an interesting question, because during the '80s and into the early '90s I was part of the women's movement, even though I was not, as I recollect, a woman. I ended up coming to the same conclusions that Warren Farrell did--the feminists had some legitimate issues, but they are terminally afflicted with a worldview that sexism and gender privilege/disadvantage go only one way.

Johnsson-Latham often talked about male privilege.  She said, "Look at this interview two men ganging up on one woman."  I laughed, and said, "Yes one woman -- one woman who is doing more talking than the two men combined." 

I've seen Gloria Allred do the same shtick -- she'll be debating several men and will say, "Look at all these men against me just one woman" -- ignoring the fact that the host is giving her more talking time than all of the men combined.

Johnsson-Latham apparently believes that men are "privileged" because they're working while their wives are home with their young children, I believe that those women are lucky. Men get cheated out of time with their children when they're young. I was fortunate to be a stay-at-home dad for the first 2 1/2 years of my daughter's life, and it was the best experience I've ever had or ever will have. And the window of time is small. For example, over spring break my son (15) and my daughter (9) spent the week in Sacramento with their cousins. They were having a great time--and neither my wife nor I received a single phone call from either of them for several days.

The commentator asked us about the genders ever coming together on these issues.  I said the biggest thing preventing us from coming together is this -- during this conversation, and whenever I'm interviewed, I can and usually do freely admit that men are responsible for some of the problems women and men face, and that men need to change.  What I never seem to hear from feminists is that women are responsible for some of these problems, and that women need to change.  Until there's reciprocity there, until feminist leaders and women admit that women cause some of the problems and women need to change, I'm skeptical that the two genders will ever come together.

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here. 

Help, Resources for Dads
The National Fathers' Resource Center is a division of Fathers For Equal Rights, Inc. (FER), located in Dallas, Texas, with offices in both Dallas and Ft. Worth. In existence for over three decades, it has services and resources for dads nationwide and is one of the largest and most active fathers' rights organizations in the U.S. www.fathers4kids.org

Venus: The Dark Side
Discover how she has 'played' you. For the first time ever, a book that tells you exactly how manipulative and deceitful women win against their unsuspecting prey – and there's detailed information about what you can do about it. Read Roy Sheppard and Mary T Cleary's book "Venus: The Dark Side".  Amazon 5 star reviewers say "An astounding book." "Required reading for all young men today." Visit www.venusthedarkside.com

Child Abuse PSA Makes Some Effort to Be Gender-Balanced

This interesting Australian parenting/child abuse PSA shows males in a worse light than females, but it does at least make a tangible effort to be gender-balanced.

I would have liked it more if they had cut out the last scene, or if they had made it gender neutral, or included both genders.

The PSA is "Children See, Children Do." To watch, click here.

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

Thanks to Damon, a reader, for sending it.
 

 Parental-Alienation-Awareness.com
Stop Parental Alienation--a terrible form of Child Abuse. Nine states have now officially recognized Parental Alienation Awareness Day. To learn more, go to Parental-Alienation-Awareness.com.

The Rogue Wallet: a Scientific, Stylish Solution
Sometimes great ideas come in unexpected shapes. The Rogue Wallet, the only wallet with a revolutionary curved edge, is designed to fit comfortably in your front pocket. Carrying your wallet in your front pocket makes sense for many reasons, in particular because doing so alleviates back pain caused by sitting on a traditional wallet. Inventor Michael Lyons designed the Rogue Wallet specifically with this purpose in mind. www.roguewallet.com

His Side with Glenn Sacks Radio Commentary: Ned Holstein on New Research on Move-Aways

My recent His Side with Glenn Sacks radio commentary for KLAA AM 830 in Los Angeles discusses some new research on post-divorce moveways. These move-aways are often a devastating blow to the relationship between children and their noncustodial parents. Ned Holstein, MD, MS, Executive Director of Fathers & Families, recently complied some new research on the issue.

To listen to the commentary, click here.

To learn more, see my blog post Ned Holstein on New Research on Move-Aways.

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.

 Help for NYC Fathers
The Law Office of Tracey A. Bloodsaw provides quality family law services at affordable rates. We pride ourselves on serving a community that is often neglected--fathers. Our areas of practice include: divorce; child custody/visitation; child support; domestic violence; and many others. Call 718.274.1599 or go to www.traceyabloodsaw.com.

Family Law Help for Dads Nationwide
The Alliance for Single Parents helps dads nationwide with child custody, child support, Parental Alienation, and other family law problems. If you've got a family law problem and are looking for a resolution at a reasonable price, call the Alliance for Single Parents at 1-888-937-3466 (1-888-We're Home) or email them by clicking here. www.allianceforsingleparents.com

'I'm rumblin' in this JCB. I'm 5 years old and my dad's a giant sitting beside me' (Music Video)

"Well, I'm rumblin' in this JCB. I'm 5 years old and my dad's a giant sitting beside me.

"And the engine rattles my bum like berserk, While we're singin, 'Don't forget your shovel if you want to go to work!'

"My dad's probably had a bloody hard day, But he's been good fun and bubblin and jokin' away, And the procession of cars stuck behind are gettin all impatient and angry, but we dont mind. An' we're holdin' up the bypass, Me and my dad havin' a top laugh" 

The JCB Song by the band Nizlopi  is a sweet song by a man talking about spending time with his dad when he was a kid.  To say that we need more of this in our culture would be the understatement of the century.

To watch the music video, click here. Thanks to George, a reader, for sending it.

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

 Falsely Accused? How to Get Beyond the 'He Said/She Said' Dilemma
Restraining orders and supervised visitation orders are often issued after relying solely on statements made by the accuser and the accused. Borders, McLaughlin & Associates are former police detectives who employ a new and different approach to such cases. Their Domestic Violence and Child Abuse Risk Assessments are designed to prove or disprove abuse allegations, and to answer the questions judges face. Contact them at (888) 621-1900 or go to www.bmaa.com

Help for San Diego, Riverside Fathers
The Law Offices of Robert M. Bennett provides caring and compassionate divorce and family law services to clients in San Diego and Riverside Counties. His areas of practice include every aspect of family law, such as divorce, paternity, child custody, child support, spousal support, property division, and post-divorce modification of existing orders. Call 760-631-2082 or go to www.robertmbennett.com

His Side with Glenn Sacks Radio Commentary: The Disappearing Dad

My recent His Side with Glenn Sacks radio commentary for KLAA AM 830 in Los Angeles discusses Indianapolis Star cartoonist Gary Varvel's so-true-it's-painful depiction of the fatherless modern American family (pictured). The picture in the upper left of the album is the saddest of all.

To listen to the commentary, click here.

To learn more, see my blog post So Heartbreaking and So True.

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.

Jeff Leving's New Book--Divorce Wars
Jeffery M. Leving, one of America's most prominent divorce lawyers, has written a new book on how to win any divorce fairly, even when your spouse brings out the heavy artillery. Divorce Wars: A Field Guide to the Winning Tactics, Preemptive Strikes, and Top Maneuvers When Divorce Gets Ugly provides essential advice on everything from picking the right lawyer and devising a winning settlement strategy to getting the most from your day in court and dealing with an ex-spouse. Divorce Wars is available here.

SAMSONLAW--Divorce Lawyers for Michigan Men & Fathers
If you're a Michigan man faced with divorce, you need SAMSONLAW on your side--SAMSONLAW defends men.
Smart Advocacy Means Stopping Oppression Now. INeedSamson.com

The Feminist Majority's 'This Is What a Feminist Looks Like'

The video below is the Feminist Majority Foundation's 'This Is What a Feminist Looks Like' promotional video. The video features several celebrities and numerous others proclaiming their loyalty to feminism, and explaining what feminism means to them.

The views of what feminism is sound a lot more like what feminism is supposed to be than what it really is. If modern feminism was closer to the former, it would not meet nearly as much opposition, including from me.

As a whole the video is reasonable enough, and is probably an effective public relations tool for the Feminist Majority Foundation. There is, however, one short part of the video which annoyed me--anybody care to guess what it was?

The video can be seen here.

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

Help for Midwest Fathers
Cordell & Cordell is one of the largest domestic relations firms for men in the Midwest, representing fathers in Missouri, Illinois, Texas, Kansas, Indiana and Georgia. Men who come to Cordell & Cordell know that their interests and the interests of their children will be aggressively championed. www.cordellcordell.com
Civil War - A Father's Guide to Winning Child Custody
Joseph E. Cordell's Civil War - A Father's Guide to Winning Child Custody  gives fathers clear, easy-to-understand tips on how to achieve the best results possible in a divorce. Comprehensive chapters explain every step of the divorce process, the meaning of legal terms, how courts determine custody, and how to maximize chances of victory at every stage. Cordell is the founder of Cordell & Cordell. 

Rocky & His Wife

One of the things I like the most about the movie Rocky Balboa (2006) is the way Rocky feels about his late wife Adrian. He speaks of her reverently and visits her grave often, always bringing fresh flowers.

Adrian loved Rocky for who he was, instead of resenting who he wasn't. She cherished the things he did, as opposed to carping about the things he didn't do.

In return, Rocky was loyal and kept his affection and love for her, even after he became famous and could have traded her for a "better" woman, as some men do. There's a kind of working man's dignity to Rocky's affection for her that is very touching.

In the previous clip from the movie that I blogged about (see Some Great Fatherly Advice from Rocky Balboa) Rocky reminds his son "don't forget to visit your mother." The next day they both meet by chance at Adrian's grave.

In the clip below, Rocky is thinking about Adrian on their anniversary, revisiting the ice skating rink where they had met many years before. He's with Paulie, Adrian's brother.

To watch, click here.

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

 Help for Colorado Dads
As someone who has personally experienced the heartbreak of divorce and family breakup, Brett W. Martin, Esq. works to advance the interests and concerns of fathers in domestic and family law litigation. Personal attention is given to clients to help them through a very difficult time in their lives. www.brettwmartin.com

Families Against Confiscatory Child Support (FACCS)
FACCS is the national voice for fair and reasonable child support. FACCS believes all parents have an obligation to support their children financially. However, in high income cases, state and federal laws often result in excessive awards that are effectively alimony in disguise and have little to do with supporting children. Huge child support awards lead to protracted custody disputes, undermines co-parenting, and leaves children worse off financially. www.faccsonline.org / contact@faccsonline.org

Help for Florida Dads
 Neil Leavitt, PA helps Florida dads defend their relationships with their children during divorce or separation. Leavitt specializes in family law and has practiced law for nearly three decades. The Law Office of Neil Leavitt can be contacted by phone at (954) 989-5858.

When Women Attack Men, the Men Deserved It

Yes, it's just a comic, but it's indicative of the societal norm that when women attack their husbands/boyfriends/exes, it's no big deal because, after all, they deserved it.

From Dana Summers' comic Bound and Gagged.

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

 Help for Houston Fathers
The Law Offices of Thomas A. Martin helps fathers with Family Law and Criminal Defense in Houston and surrounding areas. Martin handles divorce, child custody, alimony, domestic violence, restraining orders and a wide variety of issues fathers face. www.thomasamartin.com

Help for Seattle Fathers
The Law Offices of O. Yale Lewis III is a one-person law firm that focuses on customer care. Mr. Lewis can help you identify and focus on the outcome that you want and implement the steps necessary to get there. www.yalelewislaw.com.

Website Outages and a Plague of Locusts...

I apologize for the website outages we've been having--our hosting company, 1and1, has been having a problem with UDEV, and it has led to outages throughout their servers for many weeks. Supposedly the problem is being resolved.

In addition to repeated web outages, I've been laid up with the flu and have had no strength for the past several days, and the previous week I was in a car accident.

If anybody has any miracle cures for my flu or my website, I'd be happy to hear them...

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

Help for Orange County Dads--Free Consultation
Family law attorney J. Christian Conrad in Orange County, California helps fathers with divorce, child custody/visitation, child support, domestic violence, property division, alimony, and other family law problems. Call 949 457-0101 for a free consultation. www.jcc-law.com

Pre-Paid Legal Services for Divorced Dads
Pre-Paid Legal gives members access to professional legal counsel both for traditional legal problems and for everyday events where legal review should be routine, but rarely is. For Pre-Paid Legal members, access to legal counsel is only a toll-free phone call away. This is an ideal product for divorced dads--to learn more, click here or call Josh Case.

Steve Moxon: 'A naturally-evolved prejudice against men can be shown experimentally'

"[A] naturally-evolved prejudice against men can be shown experimentally if you arbitrarily label or describe individuals to distinguish between them according to social status, and then get strangers to look at or assess their behavior. 

"They will underestimate and ‘do down’ the lower-ranked individuals, and even elevate those of higher status...this sets up a profound prejudice against the great majority of males, because status is how men (but not women) are judged."
 
Norman L., one of the top blog commenters on this site (see the "Top Commentators" rankings in the right-hand column of my home page) is a big fan of The Woman Racket (pictured) by Steve Moxon. Moxon makes the point that because people are judged in large part by their "mate value," most men, being of low-status, have always been the victims of deep-rooted prejudice.

Norman sent me several excerpts from the book which I think are thought-provoking. One of them--The Real ‘Power’--is below, along with Norman's comments.

The Woman Racket - Chapter 3: The Real ‘Power’
 
‘Power’ and ‘dominance’
   
“Our mistaken beliefs about the sexes are derived from a false idea about 'power.' Men supposedly exercise some sort of ‘power’ over women. But it is never properly explained what this ‘power’ is. It alternates between being either some essence of man, or something that is not inherent in men but instead is to do with a historical invention of what men are, or supposedly should be. The latter is the idea that somehow masculinity is not natural, but results from contamination by a cultural virus, and to such an extent that men have become the embodiment of it. The opposing and simultaneously-held position is that masculinity is natural.
 
“The point is that these two mutually-contradictory views have to be held together, because masculinity can hardly be universally inculcated in men by society if the basis is not in man in the first place. Society is only the representation of human psychology, after all. The notion falls at this very first hurdle, but nevertheless it currently holds sway to underpin all discussion about the sexes, virtually unquestioned. This supposed cultural and psychological ‘patriarchy’ is reckoned to be the basis of our current social ills…
 
The ‘folk prejudice’ against men
 
“[A] naturally-evolved prejudice against men can be shown experimentally if you arbitrarily label or describe individuals to distinguish between them according to social status, and then get strangers to look at or assess their behavior.  They will underestimate and ‘do down’ the lower-ranked individuals*, and even elevate those of higher status...this sets up a profound prejudice against the great majority of males, because status is how men (but not women, as I will explain) are judged...

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

 Divorce and Family Consultant Jayne A. Major, Ph.D. Helps Parents all over the United States
Dr. Major, founder of Breakthrough Parenting Services, Inc., helps dads all over the US with Parental Alienation Syndrome, child custody, preparing for psychological evaluations, dealing with personality disorders including BPD,
parenting and family relationship issues, and much more. Contact her at  jaynemajor@gmail.com or (310) 823-7846. For more info., click here.

Need Help with Divorce Debts?
Divorce often brings debt. Prosperity Financial can help. Prosperity Financial offers Debt Consolidation (CCCS), Debt Settlement, a Student Loan Consolidation program, and much more. Negotiate lower interest rates, avoid nasty creditors and improve your credit. Call 1-888-611-2809 or visit www.prosperityfinancial.org.

Girls Playing Sports Against Boys

Holly Bowne's story Feminism may go too far in girls vs. boys (Detroit Free Press, 3/28/08) and my blog post Holly Bowne: 'I saw a female player punch one of our boys in the back of his head...my son's face was smashed into the boards by another' reminded me of an incident that took place with my son at a skateboard park several years ago.

I used to take my son Saturday mornings to go skateboarding, but one time when we went they were filming a children's show there. My son and the others were encouraged to be the audience/extras for the show.

It turned out that it was one of those Saturday kids' shows, and it was about this great girl skateboarder who was the victim of boy skateboarders' sexism. The sexism was that the boys didn't believe that a girl could or would really do dangerous skateboard stunts. The boys were, of course, made to look like fools for this belief.

I watched as they filmed the dangerous skateboard stunts that the girl would do to show what sexist idiots the boys are. A teenage girl went up to the top of a tremendously tall ramp, got on her skateboard, and bent down to begin. Then she stopped, and her stunt double came on, similarly dressed.

The stunt double did a bunch of amazing stunts, and I said to my son, "Wow, that girl can really skate!" Then I looked a little closer and saw that it wasn't a girl at all--it was a boy dressed to look like a girl.

In other words, the point of the show was to make fun of the boys for thinking that a girl couldn't or wouldn't do dangerous skateboard stunts, and in order to film it, they had a boy do all the dangerous skateboard stunts for the girl. Nice, huh?

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

 The Men's Legal Center--Help for Men & Fathers
 The Men's Legal Center, Family Law Advocates specializes in representing men in Family Law Court in San Diego. They also provide guidance and assistance for fathers all over California. Contact them at 619.234.3838 or by email by clicking here.

Online Dating Rights
Online Dating Rights opposes the new federal International Marriage Broker Regulation Act, which requires Americans who seek to meet foreigners via the internet to have a criminal background check and an intrusive report about intimate details of one's life BEFORE any communication--the first time in US history that such checks have been required. www.onlinedatingrights.com

The Feminist Dissident: 'Sexism Makes It Harder for Hillary Clinton to Win'

"[I]n the political arena, you can get away with being nastier to women, as women, than you can being nasty to black as blacks...[there is a] sexist gauntlet that Hillary Clinton has had to run in this primary campaign...

"It doesn’t take a trained feminist theoretician to deduce that much of the hostility directed at Hillary has a sexist tinge...[Hillary] taps into all sorts of sexist anger at, and fear of, women."--Dan Oppenheimer, The Feminist Dissident  

The purpose of "The Feminist Dissident" is to give feminists a chance to speak directly to my audience, and my audience to debate the issues with them in a civil manner. To read previous entries, click here.

The first two contributors to this are male feminist bloggers Dan Oppenheimer and Jamie Berger of the blog Masculinity and its Discontents. If you are a feminist and are interested in submitting a blog post, please email me at glenn@glennsacks.com.

On Katha & Hillary
By Dan Oppenheimer

In my first post for Glenn, I didn’t focus much on what’s perhaps the most significant reason that I associate myself with feminism. It’s that there are some feminist writers whose writing has been meaningful to me, and whose insights have enabled me (I believe) to understand the world more deeply.

One of my favorite feminist writers, over the years, has been Katha Pollitt. I’ve been reading her since my father first bought me a subscription to The Nation in my freshman year of college, and have rarely been disappointed (I used to get annoyed that she seemed so annoyed by Christopher Hitchens, but these days I’m thinking that maybe she knew the Hitch better than I did).

She’s smart. She’s funny. She’s passionate. She’s willing to be vulnerable (in her latest book of essays, for example, she writes at great length on her capacity for self-deception).  And, above all, her perception of political reality has helped illuminate mine in a way that’s felt valuable.

Take this recent column, for instance, in which she disagrees with feminist icon Gloria Steinem about whether, in the contest for the presidency, being a woman or being black is more of a handicap. She writes:

"I’ve written many times about sexist attacks on Hillary Clinton as an old, ugly, castrating witch-and-what-rhymes-with-it, but Gloria Steinem’s New York Times op-ed in defense of her, 'Women Are Never the Front-Runners,' was not helpful, to put it mildly. 'Gender is probably the most restricting force in American life,' Steinem wrote. '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).' Yes, black men got the vote first, although they could be lynched for using it. Shirley Chisholm, the black Congresswoman who ran for President in 1972, did famously write, 'Of my two handicaps, being female put many more obstacles in my path than being black.' But Barack Obama is only the third black senator in the modern era; Deval Patrick is only the second black governor. It may be true, as Steinem suggests, that 'the sex barrier [is] not taken as seriously as the racial one.' But that doesn’t mean the racial barrier really is less serious. It just means that the public expression of racism is beyond the pale in a way that the public expression of misogyny is not."

There’s a lot going on here, from my perspective, that’s good. There’s the recognition of the complexity of the matter. There’s the courageous, if gentle, dissent from Gloria Steinem, a dissent that only helps to open up space in the feminist discourse for disagreement. There’s the felicitous writing (“Yes, black men got the vote first, although they could be lynched for using it” is a wicked sentence). And there’s the precision of her location of the important distinction: in the political arena, you can get away with being nastier to women, as women, than you can being nasty to black as blacks, but that’s just one fault line in the complicated matrix of challenges that any political aspirant faces.

What’s also appealing to me, in this column, is the excellently concise job she does summarizing the sexist gauntlet that Hillary Clinton has had to run in this primary campaign. She writes:

"The media are hopelessly sexist and relentlessly trivial. So much we’ve learned from the mass hysteria over Hillary Clinton’s 'emotional moment' in New Hampshire. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer columnist Robert L. Jamieson: 'She morphed into a "compassion brand"--like, irony of ironies, Kleenex'; New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd: 'Can Hillary Cry Her Way Back to the White House?') Even Southern charmer John Edwards couldn’t resist observing that a commander in chief needed 'strength and resolve'—a view echoed by Fox commentator Dick Morris ('There could well come a time when there is such a serious threat to the United States that she breaks down') and given full misogynous display by nationally syndicated cartoonist Pat Oliphant’s 'Madam President Meets the Bad Guys,' portraying a dumpy, tearful Hillary surrounded by Osama, Kim Jong Il and similar. All this fuss over a welling of the eyes so brief that if you blinked your own you’d miss it. I have moments like that every day! This was the Dean Scream all over again: a nano-nothing whipped into a self-congratulatory media typhoon."

It doesn’t take a trained feminist theoretician to deduce that much of the hostility directed at Hillary has a sexist tinge...

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

Fathers' Rights Legal Help
If you need help with divorce, child custody, child support, alimony and visitation issues, The Law Offices of Jeffery M. Leving, Ltd. is one of the only law firms in the country focused almost exclusively on fathers' rights in divorce. Leving did heroic work on the Elian Gonzalez case, helping reunite Elian with his father. He also co-authored Illinois' Joint Custody Law, and was named one of "America's Best Lawyers" by Forbes Radio. Leving is the author of Fathers' Rights: Hard Hitting and Fair Advice for Every Father Involved in a Custody Dispute. Call today for an initial consultation (312) 807-3990 or visit us on the web at www.dadsrights.com.
Legal Help for Los Angeles Fathers
If you live in Los Angeles and you're facing a divorce, separation, or a child custody issue, the law firm of Oddenino & Gaule can help. www.OddLaw.net

www.WHYJUDGELITTLE.com
My goal is to inform the public about the rulings made by Madison County, Alabama, Judge Loyd H. Little, Jr. that have turned my son’s life upside down the past two years. Judge Little’s rulings affect everyone in Alabama because they become LAW. A judge ruled (made LAW) in Bayliss vs Bayliss (1989) establishing child support beyond age of 18 which is now applied standard statewide to all unmarried or divorced parents. – Chris Hobbs, Father www.WHYJUDGELITTLE.com

Genesis 39--I guess women ruining men's lives by making false accusations isn't anything new...

My daughter found a 60-year-old book of Bible stories among our many books, and has been asking me to read it to her as a bedtime story lately. When we came to Genesis 39--the story of Joseph and Potiphar's Wife--I had to laugh. I guess women ruining men's lives by making false accusations isn't anything new.

The passage is below. The painting is of Joseph rebuffing Potiphar's Wife's advances--an act which stripped him of his good job and landed him in prison.

Genesis 39: Joseph and Potiphar's Wife

1 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh's officials, the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there.

2 The LORD was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master.

3 When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did,

4 Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned.

5 From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the LORD blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the LORD was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field.

6 So he left in Joseph's care everything he had; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.
Now Joseph was well-built and handsome,

7 and after a while his master's wife took notice of Joseph and said, "Come to bed with me!"

8 But he refused. "With me in charge," he told her, "my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care.

9 No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?"

10 And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.

11 One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside.

12 She caught him by his cloak and said, "Come to bed with me!" But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.

13 When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house,

14 she called her household servants. "Look," she said to them, "this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us! He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed.

15 When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house."

16 She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home.

17 Then she told him this story: "That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me.

18 But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house."

19 When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, "This is how your slave treated me," he burned with anger.

20 Joseph's master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined.

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

 Listen to the Wisest of All
Listen to the Wisest of All is based on interviews with seniors between the ages of 88 and 104. The seniors honestly and eagerly shared unique insights, inspiring quotes, their strong spiritual beliefs, and their advice to the younger generation. Listen to the Wisest of All illustrates life through the retelling of the seniors' experiences. Their stories were gathered into vignettes that reveal the deeper nuances of life, love, and the passions that gave meaning to their lives. www.listentothewisest.com

My Sara
My Sara--How the Adoption Assistance Agency stole a baby girl away from her loving family and put her up for adoption, for a nice profit. To learn more about this incredible story, go to www.my-sara.com

Feministing: 'Immigration agent rapes woman seeking green card'

In the leading feminist blog feministing.com, Jessica Valenti writes:

"This is going to ruin your afternoon. Just a warning. Isaac R. Baichu, 46, began calling a 22 year-old Colombian woman after receiving her cell phone number at a green card interview last year.

"He hinted, she said, at his power to derail her life and deport her relatives, alluding to a brush she had with the law before her marriage. He summoned her to a private meeting. And at noon on Dec. 21, in a parked car on Queens Boulevard, he named his price — not realizing that she was recording everything on the cellphone in her purse.

"'I want sex,' he said on the recording. 'One or two times. That’s all. You get your green card. You won’t have to see me anymore.'

"Before she left his car, he demanded oral sex to 'know that you’re serious.'"

Valenti says "he raped her" and criticizes the New York Times article for not labeling it "rape," but instead saying that "he got his way."

Valenti's comment is fair enough, but it seems to me that, assuming the crime did occur as described, the accurate description might be "rape under color of authority." Any lawyers here know the answer?

The full blog post is Immigration agent rapes woman seeking green card.

To discuss this issue on my blog, click here.

 Help for Los Angeles/Ventura County Dads
Certified Family Law Specialist Peter M. Walzer was one of the key figures in our successful legislative struggle to preserve the LaMusga move-away decision. As Chair of the State Bar of California Family Law Section Executive Committee, Walzer lobbied the state legislature to improve California laws on child support and child custody. He's an American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers Fellow who has authored numerous articles on custody issues, business valuation in marital dissolutions and spousal and child support.  www.California-Divorce.com
LaMusga Divorce Financial Planning
Divorce brings about a myriad of financial challenges and changes. Often divorcing couples make important decisions in a rash manner, with emotions impairing their judgment. These decisions may at times serve the parties well in the short-term, but can result in damaging and unnecessary long-term financial hardships.  Gary has successfully completed the training and testing required for designation as a Certified Divorce Financial AnalystTM and can assist you and your attorney in the process. To learn more, click here or call 925-287-1567.  Tracking Number  6790, DOFU 11/07

Fathers & Families News Digest, 4/8/08

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

Former state employees sentenced to probation in child-support thefts (Statesman Journal, 3/31/08)

Missouri senator still fighting for dads' rights (MyFoxKC.com, 4/1/08)

Ex-wife who tried to have husband killed contests fees (Maryland Daily Record, 4/1/08)

Computer error on child support disrupts finances of local family (Akron Beacon Journal, 4/3/08)

Father old to cough up 24000 pounds for unknown daughter (Kent Online, 4/3/08)

Mom tries for support money but state gets it first (Quad-Cities Online, 4/4/08)

Bill ensures those in military will not lose child custody (KCRG, 4/4/08)

Child support payments fall in with economy (Times Daily, 4/5/08)

Market slump makes divorce more difficult (San Francisco Chronicle, 4/6/08)

Quickie divorce now just a simple click away (news.com.au, 4/8/08)

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

Steven Carlson, the Custody Coach, has helped thousands of parents with child custody.

Steven Carlson's How to Win Child Custody
Are you contemplating divorce or separation but are unsure about how child custody will be determined or what you can expect from attorneys and the family court system? Knowing these things can help you win custody. Steven Carlson is the author of "How to Win Child Custody" and the founder of Child Custody Coach in Orange County, California. Don't get caught unprepared, download your copy of "How to Win Child Custody" today. If you need Steven's Custody Coach services, click here.

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'The lesbian biological mom does to her ex exactly what heterosexual mothers so often do to their ex-husbands...'

Over the past year I have written a column and several blog posts on the issue of the rights of lesbian “social mothers”–women who agreed to employ a sperm donor so that they could have children with their lesbian partners, who are the biological mothers.

I do believe that children fare best when they have both a mom and a dad, and that fathers offer much to children that mothers don’t provide. However, this is not possible in lesbian couples.

When two lesbians agree to have a child together, and when the child has bonded with both his or her biological mother and his or her social mother, I believe that the relationship between the child and the social mother should be protected. I also believe that the biological mother has a responsibility to her children and to her former partner to hold up her end of the deal with the partner with whom she created the child, and that courts should hold her to her commitment.

These cases are now becoming routine--when the relationship goes sour, the lesbian biological mom does to her ex exactly what heterosexual mothers so often do to their ex-husbands--drive her out of her child’s life. When heterosexual women do this our society makes excuses for them and assumes that the ex-husband must have done something bad to merit it. With these lesbian breakups we can see the truth much clearer--some women (straight or gay) are vindictive, and this vindictiveness drives them to purge their exes from their children’s lives.

In this case, the lesbian couple legally committed themselves to having joint custody, and now the biological mother is trying to employ the Ohio ban on gay marriage in order to deprive her ex of a role in their child's life.

Woman Argues Ohio Anti-Gay Amendment Bars Ex From Sharing Custody
365Gay.com, 3/26/08

(Columbus, Ohio) An Ohio woman says the state's ban on same-sex marriage is grounds for barring her ex-partner from sharing custody with her son."

Thursday the Court of Appeals will hear her case. Last June a judge in Columbus ruled that the amendment has no bearing on a signed agreement between Denise Fairchild and Therese Leach that they would share custody of the boy, now aged 11.

The dispute over custody began in 2005 after the women ended their relationship.

After their son was born in 1996, both women parented him. In order to ensure that Leach had a protected legal relationship with the child, the two women signed a joint custody agreement.  Su