Mens Rights Thread

Silentcorner · 30-11-2018 7:10pm

iptba wrote: »

“Toxic masculinity. Gareth Thomas on the importance of workplace diversity” is a headline on the front page of Irish Times today. The article is called “Gareth Thomas: Toxic Masculinity on and off the field”. It says he is an LGBT campaigner and discusses how he was a victim of a homophobic attack. Masculinity is not discussed really in the article. I doubt the paper would use "toxic femininity" in this way.

I read the same article and thought the same thing!

Media is in real trouble, it has exhausted its options in terms of medium to long term viability, I don't know does that stress on an organisation allow itself to behave in this manner...or is this the behaviour that has caused that decline (I mean toxic group think in editorial tone and group think in commercial decisions, like giving news free online).

Whatever the reason, men/masculinity is getting a battering in media these days...it is nuts!

This harms women as well as men, just in different everyday ways!!

Calhoun · 01-12-2018 12:40am

Indeed all these vested interests in the media they are pushing people away from mainstream media. They then wonder why numbers are dropping down and people are moving to other formats.

Was it early October they had that push for people to keep with the old "trusted" media.

iptba · 01-12-2018 1:20am

This was always on the cards though a lot of the initial discussion seemed to be about 30% when the long-term quota was 40%

Gender quotas to rise to 40% in next decade - Varadkar
Taoiseach attends event to celebrate the centenary of women’s suffrage in Ireland

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/gender-quotas-to-rise-to-40-in-next-decade-varadkar-1.3716371

In the area of gender equality, Mr Varadkar pointed towards a review group which was established to promote gender balance on State boards.

“Last year 52 per cent of people appointed to State boards under the Public Appointments Service were female. We have already exceeded the 40 per cent overall target. Now I want us to aim for parity.”

So 40% is no longer enough in this area. To achieve this, they will continue to have more than 50% of appointees being female.

Calhoun · 01-12-2018 1:25am

He probably wont be in power long enough to see it through and had better hope that all this crap doesn't bite him on the arse.

Eric Cartman · 02-12-2018 4:43pm

How is this legal, you have two men who were found not guilty of rape , which since that verdict the irish times have been using their image every time they have a story about a rape trial or about court controversy during a rape trial or opinions about rape trials.

Why is it that the trial by media must continue for these lads and that its ok, not illegal and nobody is saying this is wrong.

https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/tv-radio-web/callous-courtroom-tactics-against-women-put-on-trial-by-marian-finucane-1.3714669?mode=amp

Calhoun · 02-12-2018 6:04pm

Eric Cartman wrote: »

How is this legal, you have two men who were found not guilty of rape , which since that verdict the irish times have been using their image every time they have a story about a rape trial or about court controversy during a rape trial or opinions about rape trials.

Why is it that the trial by media must continue for these lads and that its ok, not illegal and nobody is saying this is wrong.

https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/tv-radio-web/callous-courtroom-tactics-against-women-put-on-trial-by-marian-finucane-1.3714669?mode=amp

I am sure in good time if there is a case to answer they will be sued. You know how it is for that case though the rule of law wasn't good enough and there are those who feel they should hang for it.

Part of the reason why people are moving away from such vested interests in main stream media.

H3llR4iser · 05-12-2018 1:17pm

Calhoun wrote: »

Indeed all these vested interests in the media they are pushing people away from mainstream media. They then wonder why numbers are dropping down and people are moving to other formats.

Was it early October they had that push for people to keep with the old "trusted" media.

yeah but...what IS "mainstream media" these days? Internet is entirely ruled by this "mob justice" mentality; Dare thinking on your own and, no matter how logical or researched your position is, you're the enemy, the witch to hunt down and burn at the stake. It's basically Giordano Bruno all over again.

Social media and platforms where every village idiot can spit out whatever moronic drivel they want, in front of a worldwide audience and with no check nor accountability have a lot to answer for; We've created an era where information is more readily available than ever before, yet people are regressing to a state of near complete ignorance - in no small part because whatever bit of information is just "a Google search away"; Without a care about whatever such a Google search returns being truth of completely fabricated lunacy. Compound this with humans natural mistrust for authority and innate tendency towards confirmation bias (wanting to hear what they believe to be true), and the recipe for disaster is served. It's 2018 - we have satellites, rovers on Mars, probes outside of the Solar System, sequencing of the human genome...and yet not only there are flat Earthers and Anti-Vax supporters, these groups are stronger and farther reaching than any "pie-in-the-sky" movements have been in the last couple of centuries.

As unpopular an opinion as it may be, there's a lot of merit into authoritative, peer checked, professional and centralized management of information - as long as there's a professional standard around it. That's where "traditional media" are failing - they forgot their role as pursuer of factual, verifiable truth. In the struggle to survive, to attract more audience and advertising revenue, they're simply telling the public what they want to hear.

The fact a sizable chunk of media "professionals" are themselves millennials born and raised in a culture of "the Internet mob is always right" only further seals the deal.

Calhoun · 05-12-2018 4:19pm

Mainstream media to me is the traditional forms of media, that is currently pushing people away.

The thing with the new media is and why its dangerous is you will always find an echo chamber to listen to and to reflect your opinions back.

My point is when the media shows a bias they are actually undermining the trust that the public have in them and driving them online to echo chambers.

I agree with your points on a more authoritative approach to media quality and having standards. We aren't seeing that in all cases today and its undermining the value of the media platform on a whole.

We had a rape case thrown out of court last week because a so called professional believe that trial by media trumped trial by law. So yes i definitely agree that its a certain cohort of journalists sealing the deal.

py2006 · 06-12-2018 5:55pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJwsIB0mwLk

Defunkd · 06-12-2018 9:12pm

Calhoun wrote: »

He probably wont be in power long enough to see it through and had better hope that all this crap doesn't bite him on the arse.

What he's doing is appeasing the female lobby who will back him as long as he's giving them concessions. He is ensuring another term as T...and he'll get it.
FG isn't 'Pro-Woman' by accident or because it's the correct way to be; it's political strategy. The female lobbyists won't forget who was pushing gender quotas, female-only positions, the abortion ref and our next ref, to change the 'sexist' wording of the Constitution (this is his second attempt at bringing this to referendum: this is repaying favours, not FG manifesto or vision)

iptba · 07-12-2018 2:37am

Here's the latest batch of gender-related hashtags I have noticed trending for anyone interested (I know some are not)
(Aside: I'm not on Twitter 24/7 of course and don't look back at lists for when I wasn't on)

#WITA18
#womenintech
Women in Tech Awards
@WITAwardsDublin
The Women in Tech Awards is Ireland’s first annual celebration of women and diversity in the technology industry.

#AWomansWorld
https://twitter.com/hannahmdeasy/status/1065736485972967425
[RTE had a week of programmes on women]

#diacontralaviolenciadegenero
International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

#SfBWomenInSport
Women In Irish Sport conference

#WomenInMusic
https://twitter.com/MusicNewsRumor/status/1070815356548276226

iptba · 10-12-2018 1:46am

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxpX6IQ3GY4

A guy asks people what women are better than men at. Lots of answers are given. He then asks what men are better than women at and people are much slower to give answers and some of them are more like insults.

I watched this a couple of days ago how what really stuck with me was the woman (presumably a lesbian) at 2:09
"I just prefer girls in literally every possible way of speaking and like if I could go through life without interacting with men, that sounds like paradise".

An example of misandry if ever there was one.

silverharp · 10-12-2018 10:14am

I saw one of his other videos, it went kind of viral , its fascinating when you can see someone's brain frying
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=312sbdaZVUo

iptba · 12-12-2018 12:28am

Pensioners are biggest losers as 'fair' Budget sees them out of pocket

The largest overall decline in disposable income was seen among women with children who were in a couple where one worked. That group incurred losses of 1.76pc.

Women in no-earner couples with children lost 1.48pc relative to benchmarking against wage rises.

https://www.independent.ie/business/personal-finance/latest-news/pensioners-are-biggest-losers-as-fair-budget-sees-them-out-of-pocket-37614705.html
Do not both members of the couple lose out?

And sometimes in a heterosexual couple, the woman works and the man is the homemaker, though this is rarer. The way they have written it, one might be forgiven for thinking there were gender-specific proposals.

silverharp · 12-12-2018 10:06am

Genuine concern or just bloated colleges running out of students and see their jobs on the line?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6474985/Universities-setting-targets-recruit-white-male-students-numbers-fell.html

White males are a now a MINORITY GROUP! Universities are setting targets to recruit more after numbers plummeted
•Aston and Essex universities pledge to boost the number of white male students
•Women are a third more likely to apply to degree courses than men, data shows
•Figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency show white British students are in a minority at about 10 per cent of institutions

The progressives wont like that

While university entry should primarily be decided on merit, Professor Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at Buckingham University, said there was a good case for giving white men special attention.

'It is a form of racism to be uncomfortable in tackling white male under-representation,' he said.
While university entry should primarily be decided on merit, Professor Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at Buckingham University, said there was a good case for giving white men special attention.

'It is a form of racism to be uncomfortable in tackling white male under-representation,' he said.

iptba · 12-12-2018 5:23pm

The UK university system is different to the CAO system: in the latter, it is simply down to points (excluding the HEAR scheme for some students from economically disadvantaged areas, DARE system for students with disabilities and the odd course with interviews, portfolios, etc.). In the UK, different people may be required to get different points to get in and some people can get no offer at all from a university.

seamus · 13-12-2018 12:27am

Whatever about men's issues being ignored by the media, RTE have a documentary about steroid abuse in men at the moment. It's reaching epidemic proportions and nobody is talking about it.

But RTE have been absolutely spamming the **** out of it all week, so fair play. Credit where its due.

iptba · 13-12-2018 2:06am

Sponsored
Sponsored content is premium paid-for content produced by The Irish Times Content Studio on behalf of commercial clients. The Irish Times newsroom or other editorial departments are not involved in the production of Sponsored content.

20x20: why promoting female role models in sport matters

For the women driving the 20x20 sports programme getting the public to support womens’ sports events is as important as their representation in the media

Tue, Dec 11, 2018, 06:00 Updated: Tue, Dec 11, 2018, 11:01

Sponsored by 20x20, AIG, Investec and KPMG

https://www.irishtimes.com/sponsored/20x20/20x20-why-promoting-female-role-models-in-sport-matters-1.3714915

Not the worst thing for companies to support just it's a bit irritating how often gender-specific initiatives focus on females compared to males.

Tell me how · 13-12-2018 2:13am

seamus wrote: »

Whatever about men's issues being ignored by the media, RTE have a documentary about steroid abuse in men at the moment. It's reaching epidemic proportions and nobody is talking about it.

But RTE have been absolutely spamming the **** out of it all week, so fair play. Credit where its due.

Ciara Kelly covered it today.

A steroid user phoned in to defend the use of steroids and did more to turn people off the idea of them than any program I reckon.

Tell me how · 13-12-2018 2:16am

iptba wrote: »

https://www.irishtimes.com/sponsored/20x20/20x20-why-promoting-female-role-models-in-sport-matters-1.3714915

Not the worst thing for companies to support just it's a bit irritating how often gender-specific initiatives focus on females compared to males.

But, is it not the case that in most cases, this is because there is a very clear gap between the numbers competing and this is an effort to correct the imbalance?

Can you think of a specific thing which there should be to encourage more male participation at it?

I'm not doubting your point, I'm curious in what area you'd like to see men encouraged to participate more.

Calhoun · 13-12-2018 3:01am

Thats great to hear guys

, credit were its due to be fair.

Steroids are fairly ****ed up, anecdotally every time i hear the likes of a wrestler dying young most time its due to the side effects of steroids (enlarged heart ect).

Calhoun · 13-12-2018 3:05am

Tell me how wrote: »

But, is it not the case that in most cases, this is because there is a very clear gap between the numbers competing and this is an effort to correct the imbalance?

Can you think of a specific thing which there should be to encourage more male participation at it?

I'm not doubting your point, I'm curious in what area you'd like to see men encouraged to participate more.

Depends on what we are talking about if its sport or just in general. If it was me one of the things i would be pushing men towards is the likes of teaching ect.

There are in fact quite a number of areas where men are not represented well but it seemingly is ok.

Whats even worse for men/boys is the forced participation in certain areas, like making the likes of home economics mandatory. Which in itself doesnt sound bad but when its been sold as a way to balance out the genders they can **** right off.

iptba · 13-12-2018 3:17am

Interview with the head of Google Ireland in the Irish Times today:

Google was already active in the diversity and inclusion space before this, she adds. "We were among the first companies to publish diversity to statistics and female representation has gone up significantly in the past 5 years. There is no one thing you can do to solve this overnight. We are focused on helping and promoting and supporting underrepresented groups."

Sounds to me that all things being equal, it might be seen as acceptable in Google to tend to employ and promote a female candidate over a male candidate.

H3llR4iser · 13-12-2018 2:04pm

Calhoun wrote: »

Thats great to hear guys , credit were its due to be fair.

Steroids are fairly ****ed up, anecdotally every time i hear the likes of a wrestler dying young most time its due to the side effects of steroids (enlarged heart ect).

I've been saying this for years even on this very forum and got regularly dismissed - the pressure to "look a certain way" is not something that exclusively affects women, quite the contrary in fact: the "ideal male body" is actually more unrealistic than the female one, unless you literally lived in the gym eating nothing but steroids breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Lads as young as 15 pumping lurid sh1t in their system to "get big", skipping meals for days to look "shredded", exercising to exhaustion every single day ain't exactly new, I've seen it happening for the last 10 years, yet gets completely ignored.

Tell me how · 13-12-2018 2:17pm

H3llR4iser wrote: »

I've been saying this for years, even on this very forum - the pressure to "look a certain way" is not something that exclusively affects women, quite the contrary in fact: the "ideal male body" is actually more unrealistic than the female one - unless you literally lived in the gym eating steroids breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Lads as young as 15 pumping lurid sh1t in their system to "get big", skipping meals for days to look "shredded", exercising to exhaustion every single day ain't exactly new, I've seen it happening for the last 10 years, yet gets completely ignored.

I heard some form of personal trainer/fitness guy speaking about steroid use on the radio a few months ago. He outlined the conversation he was having with young lads about steroids. (I'm paraphrasing slightly here)

Fitness guy: Why are you taking steroids
Young lad: To get big.
Fitness guy: Why?
Young lad: To look good?
Fitness guy: Why?
Young lad: To get girls?
Fitness guy: Why?
Young lad: To have sex
Fitness guy: What good is it getting a girl if your d*ck doesn't work?
Young lad: ..........................

I'd imagine that would be a fairly loud wake up call if you trusted the guy telling you.

The Black Oil · 13-12-2018 2:28pm

seamus wrote: »

Whatever about men's issues being ignored by the media, RTE have a documentary about steroid abuse in men at the moment. It's reaching epidemic proportions and nobody is talking about it.

But RTE have been absolutely spamming the **** out of it all week, so fair play. Credit where its due.

It was covered* in July because of an inquest a young guy (18) who died. https://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/brain-swelling-from-use-of-steroid-caused-boys-death-472631.html Poor lad.

*And also because seizure of steroids have gone through the roof. https://www.independent.ie/life/health-wellbeing/the-rise-of-steroid-use-irish-men-are-feeling-pressure-to-get-a-ripped-love-island-body-37138637.html

mzungu · 13-12-2018 6:37pm

H3llR4iser wrote: »

I've been saying this for years even on this very forum and got regularly dismissed - the pressure to "look a certain way" is not something that exclusively affects women, quite the contrary in fact: the "ideal male body" is actually more unrealistic than the female one, unless you literally lived in the gym eating nothing but steroids breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Lads as young as 15 pumping lurid sh1t in their system to "get big", skipping meals for days to look "shredded", exercising to exhaustion every single day ain't exactly new, I've seen it happening for the last 10 years, yet gets completely ignored.

I hope not because you can eat a pretty large amount of the right kind of food and still look shredded. If they were skipping meals they would look more emaciated than shredded.

iptba · 15-12-2018 2:27am

silverharp wrote: »

Genuine concern or just bloated colleges running out of students and see their jobs on the line?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6474985/Universities-setting-targets-recruit-white-male-students-numbers-fell.html

The progressives wont like that

https://twitter.com/MartinDaubney/status/1073526570323771392