Men’s Day vs. Women’s Day articles
This November, spare a thought for poor blokes
Tom Elliott, Herald Sun, March 9, 2017 7:30pm
DOES the date November 19 ring any bells? It should. It’s International Men’s Day, the unloved poor relation to the much hyped women’s equivalent celebrated this week. Yet the day also deserves recognition because, believe it or not, Australian men lag well behind women in many key areas.
Take life expectancy. As an Australian man born in the late 1960s, on average I should live until the age of 82. That is pretty good when you consider that 120 years ago a male my age would have been lucky to make it past 68. But it’s not so great compared with present-day middle-aged women, whose life expectancy is 86.
Perhaps one reason men underperform women on the longevity front has something to do with medical care. Cancer is one of the great killers of our time. More men die from prostate cancer than women do from breast cancer. Yet how is medical funding apportioned between these often fatal illnesses? Unfairly, that’s how.
According to the National Health and Medical Research Council, since 2003 funding for breast cancer research attracted $60 million more than for the prostate variety. There were also twice as many breast cancer research applications compared with prostate ones. Why the relative lack of academic interest in this prolific executioner of men?
The AFL plays a role in this. Round 6 this year between Melbourne and the Sydney Swans is dedicated to Breast Cancer Network Australia. The game will be played by 44 male players, some of whom may develop prostate cancer in later life. Yet the league highlights breast cancer.
Suicide is another reason men have shorter lives than women. Of 3027 Australian deaths by suicide in 2015, 2292 (almost 76 per cent) were male. The high rate of men killing themselves is preventable. But are enough mental health services directed towards males?
Turning to education, and the statistics for men versus women are similarly disheartening.
At the secondary level male students are less likely than their female counterparts to complete year 12 or its equivalent. In 2015, 90.1 per cent of women attained a formal secondary qualification.
The proportion of men who did the same? Only 86.3 per cent. We know in the long run, educational achievement leads to growth in human capital. Yet at school boys are graduating at a lower rate than girls. We need to fix this.
The odds against male achievement worsen at university. In 2016, 45,000 more women than men completed a tertiary qualification. In percentage terms, 60 per cent of degrees are awarded to female students while only 40 per cent end up in the hands of men – a 1.5-to-1 imbalance.
If secondary education is important in the 21st century, tertiary study is paramount. Men underperform at school before being obliterated by women at university. Why aren’t we dedicating a football round to highlight such an imbalance?
Divorce – and in particular the custody of children – is another area where men are routinely shafted. When families separate, sadness almost always reigns. A once happy marriage is no more. And children are usually horrified that mum and dad no longer live together. Compounding that misery is the Family Court’s habit of routinely awarding child custody to women. It’s unclear if it occurs because females are assumed to be more capable of rearing kids. But the effect on fathers can be catastrophic.
Many men I have met are embittered because they no longer see their children. First the Family Court limits the amount of time they can spend with their kids. Next, in the ugly war of “He Said v She Said”, what She Said often goes; fathers are tainted by their ex’s criticism in their kids’ eyes.
Plenty of divorces end amicably with shared custody of little ones. But a large number of separations do not – and when that happens, men are usually the losers.
Women’s perception of men’s unfair superiority stems largely from the view that males earn more than females.
Statistically that is true, but much of the gap is explained by women’s career choices (too much low-paid childcare work; not enough engineering) and time away from the office while rearing children (something to which men should contribute more).
As a family man, I can confirm that those dads who do earn more than their female counterparts aren’t typically driving expensive Italian sports cars or jetting off for golf weekends in Fiji. No, their Saturdays and Sundays are spent behind the wheel of kid-friendly SUVs shuttling between sporting events, play dates, birthday parties and visits to the local shopping centre. In short, they are spending what surplus time and money they have on their families.
If females suffered shorter lives, received less medical funding and underperformed in education, International Women’s Day would be hugely relevant here.
Unfortunately, it’s men who are suffering. Think about that on November 19.
Tom Elliott is drivetime host on 3AW, weekdays 3pm-6pm
Angry men take stand on International Women’s Day
Emma Reynolds, news.com.au, March 8, 2017 10:28pm
ANGRY blokes have hit the roads for a traffic-stopping rally in support of men’s rights – on International Women’s Day.
Protesters in cars and trucks displayed signs calling for the recognition of men let down by family courts, child support or domestic violence laws.
A sign on the back of a truck in a Brisbane read, “Stop the war on dads“, while a convoy on the M1 northbound on the Gold Coast stopped traffic for about 10 minutes this morning.
The convoy blocked three lanes at Pimpama, forcing motorists to use just one lane and slowing traffic to a 5km/h crawl.
Campaign group Australian Brotherhood of Fathers has been planning the nationwide protest for weeks, calling on its 40,000 Facebook followers across the country to get in a car, motorbike or truck and spend up to an hour on the road.
Organiser Leith Erikson told news.com.au it wasn’t a deliberate decision to have the protest on International Women’s Day, but he thought it was “a good thing.”
The Brisbane-based activist said protesters had also been out on the roads in Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne after the ABF came up with the idea for “rolling protests” on the nation’s motorways.
“We’ve been lobbying the government and media for four years,” he said. “We needed to take our message to the community in a different way.
“We’re raising awareness about the terrible issues of men’s suicide, broken relationships and mental health issues. Forty-two men take their lives each week in this country.
“If women believe we are stealing their thunder, let them believe that. It’s the last thing I’m worried about.“
He said he believes the “gender pay gap is a lie” and that “if women are not in top positions in business or government, it’s based on their ability to be there.“
Mr Erikson questioned why more attention was not paid to International Men’s Day on November 19.
He said he is “not anti-female” and has concerns for the rights of women too, but that men are facing a “national emergency.”
Signs at today’s protest also displayed the words “21 fathers,” referring to an ABF awareness campaign about the number of Australian dads it claims take their own lives each week because of separation or family access issues.
Its website says this figure “came about initially as anecdotal evidence” from men’s rights organisations and support groups for men dealing with self-harm and family access issues.
The organisation is focused on “improving the rights of fathers and families” and ensuring children have equal access to both parents.
Mr Erikson posted photos of vehicles stopping traffic today on Facebook and said there would be more protests across every major city to “acknowledge the on going ignorance and failures to protect our children by our state and federal families and health ministers along with the state, territory and federal Attorney-Generals (sic).“
Linked from 19/3/2017 Journal