Stand up men (From Malvern Gazette)

Stand up men

12:20pm Thursday 9th February 2012 in Letters

MUCH has been assumed of men, and their roles in the family, and perhaps these myths are readily believed because they provide a rationale for some of the anti-male bias found in institutions like government or the courts, which like to construct policy around accepted truths, even when those ‘truths’ are rooted in historical myth.

I would urge readers to watch the first of a three-part television series which was first broadcast by BBC4 on Monday, January 23.

The programmes are called A Century of Fatherhood and I believe many myths are exploded by the enlightening and intriguing look into the role of the father in families over the last 100 years.

Even as a man, and a father, I had swallowed some of the rot that was passed off as fact about the traditional roles of men such as me in the past, and was moved by the revelations and insights in the first episode of this series.

What was also interesting, was that three of the four informed sources used to provide much of the material used in the programme were women.

It begs the question, why do men appear so reluctant to stand up for equal treatment, and why do so few male academics and politicians make the effort to uncover the truth about the history of their own sex? If men want equal treatment in the media, in so-called ‘family courts’, and equal representation at government level, they must ensure that our politicians are informed, and not misled by sexist mythology propagated largely by the feminist left.
WILL RICHARDS
Malvern