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Mythbusters

Debunking common myths about males

Mythbusters critiques inaccurate, biased and stereotypical reports about men, boys and gender issues, and encourages factual reporting in stories concerning males.

Some examples of the myths that we challenge are

that women are "more caring" than men
that men who do less housework than their partners are "lazy" (when they do more paid work to compensate)
that women work a "double shift" or "second shift"
that women earn less than men for the same work
that women are significantly more likely than men to suffer violence in the home and from persons they know
that women are less likely than men to be controlling in relationships.

Please use the menu on the left to choose an issue to explore, or feel free to just have a browse below.

If you see any inaccurate, biased or stereotypical reports about men, boys and gender issues in the media, or if you know of any good mythbusting articles, please send them to us at mythbusters@menshealthaustralia.net.

pdf Child abuse - kids are safest with dads.

The myth in Family Law circles that children are somehow at greater risk being with dads is clearly rejected by the evidence.

Men's Health Briefs

A series of short articles on a WIDE range of men's health issues - from John Ashfield. (These articles can be reproduced following normal protocols).

pdf Men and feelings
pdf Letting men grieve
pdf Making good use of anger
pdf Being sociable is good for you

pdf No Country for Burly Men (USA) by Christina Hoff Sommers

Nearly 80 percent of the jobs lost since December 2007, in fields like construction and manufacturing, were held by men. Thus, to respond to actual economic needs, the Obama stimulus plan would have skewed toward male-dominated industries. But feminist advocacy groups in Washington hijacked the stimulus, getting the administration to add funding to boost employment in (still-growing) fields dominated by women, like health care, education, and social services. Four months after the stimulus bill's passage, the lion's share of funding is not addressing America's real unemployment challenges.

pdf Stop attacking the gender gap

Julia Gillard and her fellow travellers are primed to use Labor’s job market reregulation to impose intrusive new concepts of “gender equality” on employers and the economy. They are frustrated that, despite impressive gains in female workforce participation over the past generation, men still earn more than women from paid work. But turning the gender pay gap into a target of public policy confronts several problems.
First, as the “Making it Fair” report notes, Australians do not share the longstanding “anger” of committee chairwoman and former union official Sharryn Jackson. They see pay equity as a “non-issue”. Nearly two-thirds of Australians “incorrectly” believe it is about paying men and women the same for doing the same job. They don’t share the frustration that some occupations remain “segmented” by gender. They accept that some women pass on promotions because they become more reluctant to put in long hours of work after starting a family.

htm Testosterone won't make you aggro: study

A new study challenges the common belief that testosterone causes aggression in humans and proposes instead that the hormone encourages status-seeking behaviour. The study involving 120 women also showed that folk wisdom about the effects of the sexual hormone is so strong that people behave more aggressively if believe they have been given a dose even if they have not. "It appears that it is not testosterone itself that induces aggressiveness, but rather the myth surrounding the hormone," says University of London economist Dr Michael Naef.

pdf Beliefs on violence

Letter to the editor, Adelaide Advertiser, 1st September 2010:

Your article "Domestic abuse shame" (The Advertiser, 20/8) claimed that "the poor attitude of Australian men to violence against women is evidenced by a 2006 Victorian survey which found one in 20 believed women who were raped often 'ask for it'." This survey actually found that 6 per cent (about one in 20) people (not men) agreed with the statement "Women who are raped often ask for it". So, yes, there are still a few people who hold unacceptable beliefs about sexual violence against women.

However, there are far more who hold unacceptable beliefs about violence against men. The National Crime Prevention survey found that young people are more likely to say a woman is right to, or has good reason to, respond to a situation by hitting, than a man in the same situation. Overall, for situations where men might hit their female partners, 49 per cent of young people said that he would be right to, or have a good reason to hit her, in at least one of the situations presented. In situations where women might hit their male partners, 68 per cent of young people said that she would be right to, or have a good reason to, hit him in at least one of the situations presented. And while males hitting females was seen, by virtually all young people surveyed, to be unacceptable, it appeared to be quite acceptable for a girl to hit a boy (25 per cent of young people agreed with the statement "When girl hits a guy, it's really not a big deal").