pelican we have drifted off topic again :)

"there is across the board negativity about feminism as we well experience on OLO" which is not the same as across the board negativity about femininity. In some cases there may be little difference but I suspect that most of us are able to see some good in the other gender beyond their willingness to support our cause.

Michael Flood gave a summary in the XY piece which I like
"However, pro-feminist men have not done enough to acknowledge men's pain. We have drawn on feminist analyses of men's behaviour and men's institutions and their impact on women, and these have been and continue to be very important. However, such analyses miss important dimensions of men's experience, dimensions that are important for our ability to support men and to inspire men's commitment to gender justice. On the other hand, while mythopoetic and men's rights men have given more acknowledgment of men's pain, they misdiagnose its source as being women or the loss of masculine rights of passage or the success of the feminist movement (and in doing so, they misprescribe the cure)."

I'd suggest from what I've seen of a lot of that feminist analysis of social ill's

"they misdiagnose its source as being men or an excess of masculine rights or the deliberate resistance of the female equality (and in doing so, they misprescribe the cure)."

There are elements of truth but they miss a lot just as those men so against feminism miss a lot of the picture.
R0bert

Pelican,
Bettina Ardnt isn’t an academic feminist in a university. She is a sexologist that runs a practice and she writes for newspapers.

Interestingly you have not mentioned the author as an academic feminist who has written an article that has said something positive about the male gender.

What a pitiful and wretched state the universities are in.

Their research is so minimal that they import everything they use, from the lawnmower to light fittings (and I once knew a cleaner who spent a number of years cleaning inside a university and never once saw a made in Australia sticker).

They cannot fill math and science places, which means Australia has to import more skilled labor, when so many in Australia are unemployed or under-employed.

And then two universities employ an ethicist who has never said one positive word about the male gender (which constitutes 50% of the Australian population).

What a joke to employ the author, and what a joke Australian universities have become.

vanna I've not determined if the author's of an article I found are feminist, pro-feminist or something else but they are from an Australian university, they do discuss gender issues in a way which is clearly supportive of many feminism values and aspects of women's disadvantage (but also point out some of the inconsistancies) and quote Michael Flood quite regularly and do say positive things about men.

http://www.ncver.edu.au/research/proj/nr5011.pdf

It's a discussion on mens shed's and the role they can play in helping men. I've not read it all yet but what I've read so far is good.

R0bert

RObert

I have mentioned and linked to Mens Sheds before. A great idea I reckon and one that should be well funded.

However what was said some months ago by someone on OLO was that it is most difficult to satisfy the criteria and get approval. Maybe any money is reserved for country areas, which could indicate that support and funding is very limited. Perhaps someone in government might comment.

Today I was shocked to learn that Police-Citizens Youth Welfare Associations (PCYC) are self-funding. These organisations are placed in areas of need and do a lot to support youth, including males of course. I think they also provide some child minding. When one thinks about the number of areas in which government wastes money it is rather poor that organisations like the PCYCs that can reduce the social and financial costs of problem youth, go without funding.

Cornflower I've submitted an opening post for a discussion on initiatives to help men. I don't want to further distract this thread on that.

Trying to answer vanna's question has been interesting and a reminder of the different way's masculinity is viewed and lived.

R0bert

vanna
Arndt is an academic, she lectures on human sexuality.

"Interestingly you have not mentioned the author as an academic feminist who has written an article that has said something positive about the male gender."

Because I am not really interested in trolling the internet or my bookshelf to find a positive comment about men from someone that meets your approval as a leading academic/feminist. I don't need to prove anything as unlike you I don't view feminism as an anti-male philosophy. That is your burden to bear.