Society

How Not To Prevent Rape

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For some reason, feminists have it in their mind to have their own Todd Akin moment. First there was Senator Evie Hudak chastising a rape survivor by telling her that if the woman had a gun when she was attacked it would not have helped because “actually, statistics are not on your side, even if you had a gun.” Then there was Zerlina Maxwell’s “train mean not to rape” comment on Hannity. According to Maxwell, the only way to prevent rape is to “teach men not to rape women”.

I am quite annoyed with Maxwell, and not just because of her nonsensical, misandrous, moronic, asinine, jackass of a comment. No, what annoys me is that I actually had to watch the clip from Hannity’s show in order to know what Maxwell said. I purposefully avoid watching and reading right-wing material because of its stupidity. So one knows the situation is bad when Sean Hannity makes more sense. See for yourself:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RtYfusw4qw&w=560&h=315]

Maxwell’s position so obviously moronic that she trots out another recent favorite feminist retort: “If firearms were the answer, then the military would be the safest place for women, and it’s not.” Oddly enough, many military personnel do not walk around armed all the time. And there is also that pesky fact that the majority of victims of rape in the military are men, not women.

If this is really the best feminists have to offer, it is no wonder their methods are not effective. The grandest irony of all is that this conversation did not promote more discussion about preventing sexual violence. Instead, it only prompted discussion about feminists’ misandry and stupid non-solution to rape and conservatives’ equally inane non-solution.

Blaming all men for the actions of a few does not prevent crime. It only causes animosity and an unwillingness to listen. If you want men to be a part of the conversation, a good place to start is by not treating them as rapists in wait or talk about training them like they are circus animals. Then they might be more inclined to listen to you.

read more here: How Not To Prevent Rape.

Fatherhood

Every Kid Wants A Dad In His or Her Life

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There’s a million ways to be a great dad. But the media tends to show us crummy ones, so men, dads, moms, and everyone need far more ideas about the array of behaviors that would qualify as ideal or close enough. No one needs a big rash of judgment – you’re “bad” – when they don’t live up to high social standards. But it’s no favor to the kids to spare ourselves that ego prick when we make a “B” or less effort. The kids need to see us shooting for those “A”s, always. They need to trust that we’re trying on their behalf.

Our growing tolerance for diversity in families is undeniably a good thing. But tolerance can not mean devaluing moms and dads. Every kid needs a mom and a dad, or close facsimiles thereof. There are exceptions, of course, but generally, every effort needs to be made to help dads stay connected with their kids.

Dads matter. Don’t kid yourself. There’s a dad in every kid’s head and heart. Their yearning for their parents is a build-in feature of human-mammalian attachment. When there’s a high-functioning dad in every kid’s life, that’s when we’ll know we’ve got it right.

Read more here: http://m.golocalprov.com/news/julia-steiny-every-kid-wants-a-dad-in-his-or-her-life

Family, Society

‘The road to high pay is a toll road.’—Warren Farrell

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Why do women earn less than men?

hi-handshake-man-woman-4colWomen are systemically underpaid in part because they consciously or unknowingly make choices in their careers that lead to being paid less down the line, an author and educator says.

Warren Farrell, author of a half-dozen books including Why Men Earn More, told the CBC’s Lang & O’Leary Exchange recently that his research shows the well-documented tendency of women to be paid less than their male counterparts is more a result of individual actions than of chronic, widespread gender discrimination in the workplace.

His latest book outlines 25 choices that female workers tend to make that often lead to them being underpaid down the line. Conversely, those choices often lead to more balanced, happier lives.

“Really, men should be learning from women,” he says.

In general, men tend to make career-related decisions (including choices such as what profession to go into, and whether or not to accept a competing job offer) because they lead to higher salaries down the line. Women, on the other hand, tend to take the opposite choice in the 25 examples of decisions he lists, and as such are paid less.

In instances where they make the same choices, they are often compensated the same, he says.

He cites the widely held belief that female surgeons earn less money than male doctors do. “But it’s actually a gap between married men with kids and married women with kids,” he says.

PLEASE watch the video of Warren Farrell breaking this down: http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/TV%2BShows/Lang%2B&%2BO’Leary%2BExchange/ID/2339093525/

Read the rest of the story here: http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2013/02/27/business-warren-farrell-women-men.html?autoplay=true

Fatherhood

Hero

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[wpvideo 8golu2HG]

Khaaliq Thomas is a professional photographer, custodial father of 3 children and is recently divorced. For the past year he has been working on a photo documentary concentrating on single/custodial father households.

Purpose of The Project
After fighting for custody of my kids, experiencing my own difficulties with the courts and facing the challenges of a single parent, I was led to seek out others with similar stories. I’m driven by the fact that single fathers need to be recognized for their unselfish commitment to their families. The documentary is not focused on fathers of a specific ethnic background or economic status. The purpose is to examine the single father household in all of its many colors, variations and origins. From the tireless dad who fought for years to win custody of his kids to the widowed family that lost a mom. These stories will share with the world the dedicated ability, struggles and unconditional love of these fathers and the families they raise and nurture.

Goal
I currently have 2 dads but need another 3 – 5 participants. My goal, after collecting these additional participants, is to travel to various cities within the US and Canada photographing these families for a truly diverse look into these unconventional family structures. Attention will be given to the personality of each individual home. The history of the family and how it came to be, the members of the family and their daily activities, identities and challenges. The finished project will consist of a 120 page full color photo book being released on Father Day 2014. I’m using Kickstarter to raise the funds, for the year long study. The funds will be used to search for more dads through advertising, the printing and design of the book and traveling expenses. Help me to share the lives and hearts of these families, to salute these exceptional fathers and to inspire others.

 

http://forfathersproject.tumblr.com

Family, Fatherhood, Society

Work-Life Balance

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Two high-powered women in tech — Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg — are leading the debate about women, equality in the workplace and work-life balance.

This week on New Tech City, WNYC reporter Anna Sale talks to women in New York City’s tech scene about what they think of the messages coming down from on high.

Mayer recently disallowed telecommuting in order to increase innovation, and Sandberg is encouraging women to work harder to break the glass ceiling. Her forthcoming book Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead will be available March 11.

Sandberg has received praise and criticism in recent weeks, and there’s no shortage of both around the water coolers of Silicon Alley. 

“I think she’s absolutely correct that we do need to lean in,” said Cynthia Schames, senior business development executive at Performance Horizon Group. “A lot of times, we take ourselves off the playing field, to use a guy analogy.”

“I think it’s quite bullying to say that the onus is on women to change the nature of the workplace today, and that it’s up to us to step up,” said Rachael Ellison, founder ofREworking Parents, which helps families and individuals balance work and life. 

listen to the audio HERE: