The masculine mystique - the boot is on the other foot

An article in the Guardian recognises that men face sexist challenges just as do women.

Or rather, just as women face challenges in the public, work sphere, men face challenges in the private, domestic sphere.

This is The Other Glass Ceiling.

In the 1950s and 1960s, 'women ... were saying: “Some of us might want to work.” In the 2000s and 2010s, 'men ... are saying: “Some of us might want to work less.”'

Or another way: 'Women were saying: “We want to be taken seriously in public life.” Men – some at least – are saying: “We want to be taken seriously in our private life.”'

See the full article at The Guardian, Mark Rice-Oxley, "The 'masculine mystique' – why men can't ditch the baggage of being a bloke" 22 November 2017.

Fighting for fatherhood: The other glass ceiling

What are the invisible challenges facing fathers?

Our book, The Other Glass Ceiling is available, right here, right now. The e-book is available through Google Play.

Meanwhile, just to remind all of us about the currency of the ideas that we share in our book, Aaron Dickson's daddy-daughter-date video (which he created for Father's Day in the US) went viral on the same day we launched the book.

Here's that story and my response at The Conversation:

Flying High: sexism, paternalism and sheer idiocracy

What are the dangers to a kid flying alone ?

Airline policies and parents concerned about allowing unaccompanied minors to be seated next to men make a travesty of both reason and justice.

That this fear feeds paternalistic policy and parental concerns is ludicrous.

If you send your child unaccompanied on a plane, your child has more chance of dying in a plane crash than being molested!

Tracey Spicer, journalist and Sky News anchor has recently affirmed her support of this controversial airline policy saying “I don’t want my kids sitting next to a man on a plane.”

Her statement is, as she admits, sexist. It most certainly is, but my major issue is that it is patently wrong and misleading.

It is said that we use only 10% of our brain, that 20% of statistics are made up, and the remaining 90% of the population aren’t any good at proportions.

Dad shopping for daughter's undies is deemed a security risk

Men in general are assumed to be depraved until proven otherwise. When it comes to gender discrimination, nobody mentions the rather disconcerting stereotype that men are especially likely to be foul in some way or another, and being a good father, demonstrating the ability to love and nurture children, doesn't allow an escape from this sinister suspicion.

More generally there is the persistent notion that fathers have their place in this world – the office – but when it comes to matters of how their children will be raised, dads are not to intervene. They are incompetent parents at best and potentially dangerous at worst. Mums call the shots, and any deviation from these rules of engagement is punishable in a variety of ways, something I was confronted with one Monday afternoon.

I was shopping in a department store. Given the time and day of the week, the store was relatively lacking in shoppers, and almost all of the ones there, except me, were women. I hadn't really planned to shop. Indeed, single parents rarely have the luxury of planning anything. Rather, what happens is that some unexpected circumstance affords a sudden opportunity to go shopping. In this case it was the cancelation of a 1.30 meeting that gave me a 2 hour window after lunch.

Bring home the bacon you chauvinist pig

Here’s a riddle for you.  When is a sexist remark not sexist?  No, seriously.  Under what conditions can you make a sexist statement and be fairly sure that you will not be attacked by ‘political correctness’ police? 

Not sure?  Let me give you some clues.  Do you think the following quote is sexist? 

‘Women have narrow shoulders and broad hips. Women ought to stay at home; the way they were created indicates this, for they have broad hips and a wide fundament to sit upon, keep house and bed and raise children.’

Differing views of sex differences

For better or for worse, there are two sexes of humans.

That the sexes look different is plain to see. Even a five year old can confirm this and are generally keen to do this early. That males and females act and behave differently is self-evident also. Certainly the characteristic behaviors of the other sex make up much of the conversation of same-sex individuals in TV sitcoms and real-life.