A Seat At the Table for Men and Boys — In a Nutshell We all know how bad it is when sports- or math-minded little girls hear, “Gee, you’re really good at sports,” or “You’re really good at math… for a girl.” We all understand the sexism, stereotyping and subtle, culture-bound purpose and intent of such statements. We all know it’s about more…

A look at his song “It Ain’t Me Babe” — “Feeling Masculist” expresses itself from a gut level of uneasiness about an experience of sexism not necessarily identified as such. Bob Dylan wrote “It Ain’t Me Babe” in June 1963. His biographers generally agree that it is about his relationship with artist/activist Susan (“Suze”) Rotolo. The genesis of the song…

A possibly wise old man speaks man-to-man. — I’m new to Medium and I’m brand spanking new to Heart Affairs but I would guess that most stories here center around the hearts of women. A quick look at the Heart Affairs archive suggests I might be right about that. And who would be surprised if it turns out…

The Feminization of Poverty, here and around the world, results from the Feminization of Parenting. — United States In her September 23, 2023 article in The Atlantic on the harm done to children deprived of a two-parent upbringing, Annie Lowrey makes the mistake of much social science research. In looking for the cause of single parenting, she hears only from single mothers and she accepts as fact what…

“Again, the purpose of the ERA is to secure full equality for women.” — The Full Text of the Equal Rights Amendment Section 1: Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex. Section 2: The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of…

Turnaround: It’s time for “The Patriarchy” to examine The Matrexx. — In a Part I of this series on The Female Shadow’s odd obsession with “The Patriarchy” we talked about how keeping attention on male power, real and imagined, precludes acknowledgment and accountability for the power…

attorney, president of NOW, 1974–1977; trying to end the battle between the sexes — Karen is one of the twenty-two women interviewed in the 1994 book Good Will Toward Men. Karen DeCrow was president of the National Organization for Women from 1974 to 1977. She is a constitutional attorney and a coauthor, with Robert Seidenberg, of Women Who Marry Houses: Panic and Protest in…

Naming anything makes it easier for you and your friends to talk about it, use it, change it, fix it. — In her book Revolution from Within¹, Gloria Steinem quoted a simple but brilliant observation from American philosopher Susanne K. Langer: The notion of giving something a name is the vastest generative idea that ever was conceived.² Much of what men and boys unhappily perceive about their situation vis-à-vis women and…

Is “homophobia” really the right word? — It is time to question the most common explanation for the bashing of gay men by straight men. I am a straight man and I have never related very well to the prevalent idea that the reason some straight men bash gay men is that male gay-bashers are insecure and…