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.

Eek! A Male! (Wall Street Journal)

Last week, the lieutenant governor of Massachusetts, Timothy Murray, noticed smoke coming out of a minivan in his hometown of Worcester. He raced over and pulled out two small children, moments before the van's tire exploded into flames. At which point, according to the AP account, the kids' grandmother, who had been driving, nearly punched our hero in the face. Why? Mr. Murray said she told him she thought he might be a kidnapper. And so it goes these days, when almost any man who has anything to do with a child can find himself suspected of being a creep. I call it "Worst-First" thinking: Gripped by pedophile panic, we jump to the very worst, even least likely, conclusion first. Then we congratulate ourselves for being so vigilant.