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The Daily News
February 22, 2003
Right to do anything should have no gender limitations
Editorial
After centuries of suppression it seems women have
finally turned the tables on men.
In a serious move this week an Iowa
senator suggested to fellow state legislators it was time to create a
commission to study what has gone wrong for the American male. Republican
Senator David Miller, a 56-year-old attorney from Batavia, Iowa,
told reporters: "We are neglecting our young male population."
Miller is alarmed at statistics showing higher school drop-out rates among
boys compared to girls, and men's lower college graduation rates. He says the
problem may be an emphasis on sports among boys instead of academic pursuits.
Not surprisingly Mr Miller got some stick from his female colleagues.
Republican Senator Mary Lundby summed it up with the comment that men had it
pretty good for centuries and she welcomed them "to the club."
"Women for many, many, many generations have been encouraged to stay
away from mathematics, to stay away from chemistry and any of the sciences,
to find a husband (and) raise a family."
The irony will not be lost on others. The issue is, however, a serious one
that involves far more than just young American males. While there are still
many women striving for some sort of equality in what has been a male's
world, things are changing and without care the pendulum could go too far the
other way. Problems start early, at school, where girls tend to mature
earlier and take a more responsible approach to life, making them more
appealing as job applicants in an era of equal opportunity.
There are more subtle and insidious changes as well that are shifting the
balance in ways that will hurt all society. The vexing issue of claims of
sexual misbehaviour is an example where the males are automatically
mistrusted. People like Peter Ellis claim to be among the ultimate victims,
but so are a host of other men -- from school teachers to some fathers who
are scared to be left alone with children, let alone seen touching them with
any sort of affection. This PC overreaction is robbing perfectly worthy
parents of the best of relationships with their offspring and depriving
children of important affection and worthy male role-models.
While this may seem insignificant after the years of hurtful discrimination
suffered by woman, that makes it no more acceptable. As a society we must be
more wary of sexual stereotyping. We must ensure that paedophile-hounding and
the temptation to make villains of men does not replace the witch hunts of
old. Women can now do anything and are rightly doing just that -- we must
allow males the same opportunities and stop denigrating those who pick up
once traditional female tasks by suspecting them sexual deviation, or
accusing them of of feminist traits.
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