You can target men’s issues, without it being at the expense of women
Richard Reeves at Politico writes:
Contrary to progressive belief, young men are not turning into a generation of misogynists. Support for gender equality continues to rise, including among men under 30. The problem seems more to be that many men simply don’t see much recognition of their issues, or even of their identity, on the political left.
If the Democrats are the “women’s party,” as one party strategist claimed, it might not be surprising that men are looking in another direction. The official party platform lists the groups it is proud to serve; women are listed but men are not. There is a new Gender Policy Council in the White House, but it has not addressed a single issue facing boys or men.
As I blogged in 2018, boys and men fare badly in numerous areas of education, health, and crime etc.
When problems are neglected, they metastasize into grievances. And grievances can be weaponized in service of reactionary goals. The solution, then, is almost comically simple: Don’t neglect the problems.
The mistake being made on both sides is to see gender equality as a zero-sum game; that to do more for boys and men means doing less on behalf of girls and women.
Absolutely. We should have a Minister for Men, just as we have a Minister for Women. That is because men and women do need different things from the health and education systems (and men are doing much worse in them).
The author proposes some policies for the US, including:
- Recruit More Male Teacher
- Flexible School Starting Ages
- Expand Career and Technical Education
- Promote Apprenticeships
- Support Community Colleges
- Establish a Male Suicide Prevention Task Force
- Create an Office of Men’s Health
- Cover Male Contraception
- Set Public Health Targets for Men
- Increase the Share of Male Mental Health Professionals
- Equal, Independent Paid Parental Leave
- Reform Family Law for Unmarried Fathers
- Introduce a Nonresident Parent Tax Credit
I’d love to see one or more NZ political parties go into the next election with a men’s policy.
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