Robyn Urback on shocking anti-male hatred on the SFU campus (Canada)

The student union at Simon Fraser University in B.C. has made the apparently contentious decision to finance the creation of a Men’s Centre on campus. Motivated, surely, by deep-seeated patriarchal values, the union approved a budget of $30,000 to launch the project — the exact same amount conferred on the university’s Women’s Centre, which was established back in 1974. The idea for the Men’s Centre was proposed by fifth-year accounting student Keenan Midgley, who told SFU’s student newspaper that he believes men, too, are entitled to safe space on campus.

Unsurprisingly, however, not everyone at SFU is thrilled with the decision. The Women’s Centre, for one, coolly brushed off the idea of a stand-alone Men’s Centre on its website, simply stating that, “the men’s centre is everywhere else.” They did say they would welcome a men’s centre that focused on “challenging popular conceptions about masculinity, confronting homophobia, sexism, racism, classism, and ability issues.” In contrast, they would oppose a men’s centre that “focussed on maintaining the old boys club … that promotes the status quo, encourages sexual assault, or fosters an atmosphere of competition and violence.” Oh. OK, then. Good to know.

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Do Men Need to Act Like Women to Succeed as Fathers? - Forbes (USA)

This is a guest post written by Lisa Duggan, publisher of TheMotherHoodblog. She is currently developing a new magazine for 21^st century parents. Follow her on Twitter at: motherhoodmag.

As a publisher I appreciate a provocative headline. A good hook is more important than ever in our link-and-like economy. But I bristled at the sexist assumption in the title of Daniel Freedman’s March 16^th column, “Do Women Need to Act Like Men on Wall Street?” and I thought: will men in our culture ever catch a break?

Yes, men. The bias against women in our society, and by extension in the corporate world, has been thoroughly established. Freedman’s short answer to the question in his own headline is No, women need not act like men to succeed on Wall Street. Unfortunately, in the process of getting to the answer he reinforces an equally deep and persistent bias against men.

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Misandry on TV (USA)

Marc Rudov lists 68 examples of mainstreaming misandry in TV sitcoms and commercials - insulting, emasculating and hitting men. All linked to YouTube videos.

Men's Health Australia eNews, 5 February 2011

In this edition:

• Male Studies Symposium
• Effective Ways of Engaging Men training programs
• Working with men affected by violence
• One in Three Campaign submission to the Whole of ACT Government Statement on Family Violence
• Submissions to Family Violence Bill 2010
• Tasmanian Men’s Gathering 11–14 March 2011
• Giving boys the best possible start in life: International Men's Day 2011
• Eek! A Male!
• Quick links to recent stories and resources of interest

Daddy Discrimination (New York Times)

Do we assume men are predators? We have discussed that question here on Motherlode periodically, and earlier this month Lenore Skenazy asked it in an essay in The Wall Street Journal. That led Jeremy Adam Smith, author of The Daddy Shift, who blogs over at Daddy Dialectic, to post on Twitter: “I was once asked to leave a playground by a grandmother. I wonder how many guys have had that experience?” To which the Web site DadLabs responded: “Most? Or faced playdate discrimination of one kind or another?” They hashtagged their exchange “#dadsnotpervs.” Over the next few days, Smith created a survey and polled his audience, collecting anecdotes and answers and compiling them into charts and graphs.