Seeker...... man, get out and dig a ditch :)

Boaz, a bit wet for that here today ;-)

happy, there have been studies done across the western world over a number of years which suggest that DV rates and severities are not Gendered Violence. One study done by researchers from Melbourne and La Trobe Uni's looks at this issue and touches on some of the problems with much of the research. A copy can be found at http://www.fact.on.ca/Info/dom/heady99.htm - worth a read. You might also have a look at a book by feminist author Patricia Pearson called "When She Was Bad" regarding female violence and the damage done to feminist ideals by the continued dishonesty about female violence. Another useful place to look is state government child abuse stats - Qld stats for 2003-2004 (http://www.abusedchildtrust.com.au/content/child_abuse_2.asp#)
Family types involved in substantiated abuse and neglect:
27% two parent - natural families
23% two parent - other families
37% single female parent families (has been 42% in recent years)
5% single male parent families

You could also wade through the report of the NSW Child Death Review team (http://www.kids.nsw.gov.au/publications/fatalneglect.html). There is a section on who is killing kids and dads are not sticking out like a sore thumb.

Of course you could look at the Qld Govt Health web site which has the following gems (http://www.health.qld.gov.au/violence/domestic/default.asp).
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE is the physical, sexual, emotional or
psychological abuse of trust and power between partners in a
spousal relationship.
Most (85% to 98%) domestic violence is perpetrated by men against
women.

Most of us in the mens rights movement are very opposed to protecting genuinely abusive and or violent men. What we are upset about is the use of a dishonest portrayal of fathers to support outcomes which are damaging to our children and ourselves

Love the article, Mark, but wonder if what men (and women) really need to be thinking about is what it means to be human? I think that is, perhaps, when some women began to cast off the stereotype of gender and became free to explore themselves as people, when they realised they were human first and women second.
We seem to be returning to a time where we emphasise our differences, rather than talking together about our similarities.
I have been married to the same bloke for almost 30 years, very happily. I have one other friend my age who is similarly blessed, together we discussed why one day. Why had our marriages lasted when others had not, (she does not have kids, I do)?We decided it was because the power in the relationship was equally shared, neither partner dominated the other, while both had their own acknowledged areas of control. My husband cooks, I clean up. I do the washing, he does the vacuuming. Both couples very different, but it was mutual respect and affection and humour that seemed to be the glue that held us together, room for us both to be who we were, who we are now, and who we may be in the future. Room to grow and change in other words.

“who it is we should love and what it means to be a man.”

If the author has questions about this he could refer to the “Man Menu” at http://magazines.ivillage.com/cosmopolitan/archive/0,,284400,00.html that contains articles from “Is Your Guy Hooking Up at Work?” To “55 Things You Can Learn About a Guy in 10 Minutes” to “The 5 Secrets of Sexual Touch”

(NB. All these articles are written be females so they are safe to read)

Now questions could be asked regards all the things written about males in various articles:-
1/ Are they true?
2/ Are these articles written by experts?

Because so little reliable research has been undertaken into males, and so much written about males is contradictory, then one has to presume that very little that has been written about males is actually true, and most articles are written by complete non-experts, who really should not be written these articles that can create so many misconceptions regards males.

Perhaps this is why some people now believe that men are feeling "isolated" and "fearful". It has come from the press, like the press has made so many women feel isolated and fearful. Those who label men with everything from being “Peter Pans” to being “fearful” are no better than “Spin Sisters” who try and brainwash women into feeling “victimised” and in need of a “makeover”

There is also another question as to why feminists aren’t complaining about the way males are portrayed. They want men to take stereotyping of the female gender seriously, but they don’t seem to take stereotyping of the male gender very seriously and have rarely mention ed it.

And of course if a male complains about stereotyping of the male gender, or points out real facts about men in society, then he can be stereotyped or labelled with anything from being “misogynist” to being “poor” to having a secret “agenda”, to having a “vendetta” etc, and of course these same people believe that none of their accusations need be substantiated in anyway, but believe that these accusations are true simply because they have been made.

enaj, very nicely put.

BOAZ_David, does your theory still hold is the "little lady" is a better hunter than you? Perhaps she was a champion archer before you ended up in the bush, your eyesight might be failing or a host of other reasons. Do the families needs override the need to stick with traditional roles?

There was an good segment last night on sixty minutes on housedads. A number of cases where the mothers career appeared to be more useful to the family than the fathers so the father became the stay at home parent(in one case still employed but mum was away at sea with the navy so dad took a desk job to allow him to be the prime carer). Everybody put the family first, dads dealing with the social stigma of being the stay at home parent and the impact on future career, mums giving up time with their kids. One of the benefits of improving opportunities for women is that more dads may get the opportunity to do this without it being an economically stupid decision for the family.