Columbine caveat

The tenth anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre occurs later this month, but when discussing this tragedy, I cannot overemphasize how important it is not to use it as male-bashing. In an episode of the TV show "Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher," this, sadly, is what Michael Moore does. In this video, about 1:45 through, he tries to make the implication that it is only men who walk into schools and open fire. True, Michael, but I got bad news for ya: that isn't going to help destroy the culture of man-bashing in this country that, I believe, is an indirect cause of massacres like the Columbine one.

Now, am I trying to make excuses for what the gunmen did on that day almost ten years ago? Of course not! What I am saying, however, is that we, as a society, should not be surprised if other future massacres like the Columbine one take place as long as there is plenty of "misandric bile," as YouTube user Argus Eyes calls it, to go around (by the way, more people need to watch his videos).

You may now be asking me, well, what should I do (that is, what should I do that could help prevent another disaster of that magnitude)? The best answer I can give you is one my choir director gave our ensemble a few days after Columbine took place, which is: look out for those kids whom you feel are ostracized, left out, or outcast. Talk to them. Lend them a writing implement or piece of paper and don't be offended if you don't get it back. Ask for their cell number, then give them a call every now and then just to see how they're doing. Or text them every once in a while if you're technologically inclined. Befriend them on Facebook... and so on and so forth.

If you think the foregoing sounds corny, I can assure you it's a small price to pay to avert a potential massacre. As the saying goes, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure". And though it is true that girls are under lots of pressure from the media, what few people are saying is that the media also pressure boys a great deal, and that like girls, it is easy for boys to become depressed by all this pressure. Another finding that people don't mention is that depression is one of the causes for violence in boys, so this underscores the importance of looking out for the outcast in our society.

The bottom line, therefore, is that for the sake of the safety of our society -- not just on the national level, but also worldwide -- it is necessary to do away with the evil that is misandry. If that cannot be done, then at least be a friend to those around you whom you feel are ignored.

Other issues I care about

By now, you can probably guess that I've issues concerning feminism, but that's not my only topic of worry. Though I believe we should eradicate sexism (all forms of sexism, not just sexism against women), there are other forms of injustice in the world that also attract my concern. Three of them are as follows:

Mixed-Race Rights. If there are history months or awareness months for African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans, then where is Mixed-Race Awareness Month? Part of the problem that is hampering development of such a month is that the term "mixed-race" is offensive to some of those who identify as biracial, triracial, &c., but nevertheless a month should exist for those people who identify with more than one race/ethnicity on official forms. This is one of the many issues that concern mixed-race rights.

Only Child Discrimination. There is a Chinese saying that describes an only child as a king of the house who hogs everything, or something along those lines. I have also overheard people on a bus talk about how spoiled only children are, and what's even scarier is that an actual psychology textbook says the same thing. Discrimination against the only child is not only unjust; it also constitutes a double standard, since such discrimination doesn't affect people who have siblings.

Age Discrimination. Unless an arbitrary 20-year old on April 3rd who cannot consume alcohol responsibly can magically correct his problem on his 21st birthday, April 4th, the law in the United States that says you have to be 21 or over to drink is age discrimination. A similar analysis applies to the age of consent, driving age, voting age, and gambling age.

These are just three of the several issues that attract my concern. My hope, succinctly put, is that all forms of discrimination stop.

The presidential election

Though it's true, I haven't written in this blog in a while, let me throw in my own $0.02 about the election last month.

Barack Obama makes me ashamed to be mixed-race due to his misandry in the form of a hateful Father's Day speech that took fathers to task for not being there for their kids (this is only one example of Obama's misandry out of many). Also, Joe Biden makes me ashamed to be both Pennsylvanian and Catholic due to his VAWA legislation in conjunction with his outdated views on domestic violence. No wonder I didn't vote Obama/Biden last month.

Triple whammy aside, however, there is reason for hope. According to an article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Obama supports a requirement stipulating that both men and women register for the Selective Service. If such a bill is brought before Congress, I surely hope it passes.

The boy crisis revisited

Just to piggyback on my previous entry, Krista Kafer of the Independent Women's Forum stated the problem of the boy crisis better than I did. Here is an excerpt from her paper "Taking the Boy Crisis in Education Seriously: How School Choice Can Boost Achievement Among Boys and Girls":

Girls surpass boys in reading, writing, civics and the arts. Girls get better grades and more honors; they have higher aspirations, are more engaged in school and are more likely to graduate from high school and college. Boys, on the other hand, are more likely to be suspended or expelled, need special education, smoke, drink and do drugs, repeat a grade, commit suicide, become incarcerated, leave school without attaining literacy, drop out of school or be unemployed. Marginal advantages in math and science for boys pale compared to the sheer advantage girls enjoy throughout school. (pg. 1.)

The entire paper is available here. Undoubtedly it is required reading if you teach at the K-12 level.

The boy crisis

I'm going to be direct in this here post.

To all the people who dismiss the boy crisis in education as trivial, or refer to it as nothing but hype (as these authors do), I say: shame on you! Either that, or "If that's the case, then what would you call a 'girl crisis'?"

Any rebuttal to the boy crisis is a slap in the face to boys who are:

- less likely to have higher GPAs
- less likely to graduate from high school or college
- more likely to be diagnosed with ADD
- more likely to commit suicide
(all from http://www.trueequality.com/booklet/)

I should know, because I was actually diagnosed with a learning disorder back in elementary school. But that's beside the point.

"Be a man"

There is another phrase that I dislike, and it ranks right up there with the phrase "women and children" (please see my previous post below). It is actually, not one phrase, but a whole set of them, but what each phrase has in common is the equal damage they inflict. They are phrases like "be a man," "man up," "take it like a man," and "man enough." I'm sure there are more, but one thing's for sure: if women and men have anything in common, it is that both are equally culpable of using this set of damaging phrases.

Why is it that I not only dislike these phrases, but also, hate them with a passion? It is because that the person who uses any one of them wants you to be a stereotype. And since I vehemently abhor stereotypes in general, then guess what? I despise all of these phrases as well.

And yes, you read that correctly. To say that stereotypes are the anti-anti-drug is an understatement. I hate all of them; not just the misandric and misogynist ones, but also the racist and ageist ones, and then some. You could probably say that I hate any and all stereotypes, and this isn't far from the truth. What is the truth is that I want to take all these stereotypes and smash them into a million pieces. And oh yeah, spit on the pieces -- I almost forgot.

But don't look at all this as just a matter of me not liking a certain set of phrases (to the extent described previously). Our global society is chock full of both misandry and misogyny, but what I don't appreciate at all is that only one of the two is politically incorrect. Don't believe me? Well, try imagining any radio personality (Don Imus is the textbook example) using the phrase "be a man," or any variant thereof, and observe the lack of societal outcry. As opposed to... yeah, that episode.

Four words: see what I mean?

"Women and children"

You know what phrase I cannot stand? The phrase “women and children.” Why, you ask? Well, one reason why is the phrase’s divisive effect between two groups of people: women and children, and men. In other words, the phrase puts an unnecessary fence between these groups of people.

Another reason why I greatly dislike this phrase is that it goes contrary to the wise adage “what is good for the goose is good for the gander.” Why, then, is it necessary to separate the women and the children from the men? I can only think of one reason why, and it is the simple, physiological rationale that women get pregnant and men don’t. This is why that I can see the necessity of some governmental programs that benefit women and children. Actually, I only see the necessity of one such program, namely, WIC. For the rest of the governmental initiatives that benefit women and children, I can think of at least one way in which men would benefit from each of those initiatives. Which is, in our current year of 2008, sad. Even that is an understatement.

This physiological rationale also applies when it comes to departments of health for the sexes. Because women get pregnant and men don’t, I can see the necessity of having two national Departments for Women’s Health versus one for men’s health. However, how many such departments for the sexes are there? Try one Office for Women’s Health versus a nonexistent Office for Men’s Health, and adding insult to injury, the former gobbles up funding like you wouldn’t believe. Now, I can understand why an Office for Women’s Health is important, but come on. Are men that expendable? Apparently we are, because not only do men have to register for the selective service upon turning 18, but also, women in the armed forces are actually prevented from firing their weapons on the front lines (I read that on some military website). And we wonder why our military men die so much more often than our military women.

Equal opportunity, you ask? Hardly.