The lack of attention accorded to men's issues by Democrats is just so short-sighted, and it's something I had never thought about before finding your excellent Substack. And I'm a lifelong Democrat!
I just wonder if the bias towards women is intentional and seen as a necessary corrective to decades of inequality, or if there's a genuine lack of awareness by Democrats...nothing malign, but just an inability to recognize how certain men are struggling.
Thank you Brad for the comment, and that question is one I've been thinking about and researching for a long time. It's a complex topic, so it requires a bit of a long response.
I don't think it's a single thing, but a combination of things. There are and have been very good reasons for women to organize: equal pay for equal work, women's reproductive rights, etc. And as you said, people have felt that there was inequality before, so things need to even out now. So I would offer a couple of reasons why the Democrats might not focus on men and boys:
- A lot of people just aren't aware of the facts of how poorly so many boys and men are doing, which we measure by looking at social outcomes (life expectancy, educational attainment, etc.) It takes time for the word to get out.
- The 'Apex Fallacy' -- people see that all presidents have been men, and therefore think that men don't need any help; however, most men are not at the top and don't have all the advantages. In fact, men are the majority of unsheltered homeless, suicide victims, overdose deaths, and incarcerated individuals, all of which are bad outcomes.
- People looking at the past often fail to recognize the disadvantages men had, the most obvious being the military draft. Millions and millions of men were drafted, and many died. Look at what's happening in Ukraine and Russia today, many men are being drafted and have absolutely no control over the politics of what's going on. Hundreds of thousands have died.
- Candidates keep repeating old facts and talking points that aren't updated for today's reality.
- The 'zero-sum game fallacy.' Women make up more of the Democratic base, so the party seems to be scared to say anything that may be construed as anti-female for fear of losing support. (Christine Emba won an award for an article that included info about this.) However, we can support abortion and other women's issues and at the same time support men's health and education. It's not a zero-sum game, but for some reason, a lot of people think it is, and it's hard to overcome that.
So that's a bit of a long answer, but I guess that's why I wrote a book!
The lack of attention accorded to men's issues by Democrats is just so short-sighted, and it's something I had never thought about before finding your excellent Substack. And I'm a lifelong Democrat!
I just wonder if the bias towards women is intentional and seen as a necessary corrective to decades of inequality, or if there's a genuine lack of awareness by Democrats...nothing malign, but just an inability to recognize how certain men are struggling.
Thank you Brad for the comment, and that question is one I've been thinking about and researching for a long time. It's a complex topic, so it requires a bit of a long response.
I don't think it's a single thing, but a combination of things. There are and have been very good reasons for women to organize: equal pay for equal work, women's reproductive rights, etc. And as you said, people have felt that there was inequality before, so things need to even out now. So I would offer a couple of reasons why the Democrats might not focus on men and boys:
- A lot of people just aren't aware of the facts of how poorly so many boys and men are doing, which we measure by looking at social outcomes (life expectancy, educational attainment, etc.) It takes time for the word to get out.
- The 'Apex Fallacy' -- people see that all presidents have been men, and therefore think that men don't need any help; however, most men are not at the top and don't have all the advantages. In fact, men are the majority of unsheltered homeless, suicide victims, overdose deaths, and incarcerated individuals, all of which are bad outcomes.
- People looking at the past often fail to recognize the disadvantages men had, the most obvious being the military draft. Millions and millions of men were drafted, and many died. Look at what's happening in Ukraine and Russia today, many men are being drafted and have absolutely no control over the politics of what's going on. Hundreds of thousands have died.
- Candidates keep repeating old facts and talking points that aren't updated for today's reality.
- The 'zero-sum game fallacy.' Women make up more of the Democratic base, so the party seems to be scared to say anything that may be construed as anti-female for fear of losing support. (Christine Emba won an award for an article that included info about this.) However, we can support abortion and other women's issues and at the same time support men's health and education. It's not a zero-sum game, but for some reason, a lot of people think it is, and it's hard to overcome that.
So that's a bit of a long answer, but I guess that's why I wrote a book!
Looks like I need to get my hands on a certain book! :)