My Latest TheAtlantic.com Column: The Economy is Biased Against Men

Here is my just-published TheAtlantic.com column: Why the Economy is Biased Against Men.

Update: I'm delighted to report that in its first two days, the column received over 2,000 Facebook "Recommends."

Another Painful Story of Reverse Discrimination

I try to suppress thinking about the amount of racism against whites and Asians in this country because it so saddens me both for the victims and for society. But every so often, it hits me in the face. I just received this email from a mom who is very sad for her son.

Whatever vestiges of racism toward Blacks remain, whatever the value of compensating today's Blacks for past injustices, are much outweighed by the now half century of unfairness to white and Asian victims of reverse discrimination, and more important, to the larger society, which must suffer the effects of too many of our best and brightest being denied spots in top colleges and in employment merely because they lack sufficient melanin.

The photo above was taken at MIT's 2010 commencement ceremony.

Here is that mom's letter:

Dear Dr. Nemko,

I am really upset at the bias aginst white males. I have a son who is a senior in high school. He is very gifted in math and science, his SAT score was 2150 (perfect score on the math section and 2 subject tests), he has 4.0 gpa, currently enrolled in AP chemistry, econ and calculus; he's written 2 Apple apps, one of which has been very successful (http://justbuchanan.com/); he's an Eagle Scout; he's on the school robotics team, and he works 15+ hours a week building and programming the robots; he's on math bowl, won "star student" at his school, etc. Sorry to brag but here's why I'm telling you this: He applied at MIT and was not accepted. I understand, there are a lot of very smart students applying, and we know several smart boys that applied as well, none of them were accepted.

But there is a black girl who is, officially, on the robotics team but only shows up at the competitions, and has never laid a hand on a robot. She was accepted at MIT with a full ride! I don't know her SAT scores but I do know that she's not taking the same caliber of classes that my son is, and I seriously doubt that her statistics in general are even close to his. I realize that I don't know all her details so I may be totally off here but I doubt it. The injustice of it truly infuriates me!! My son is going to Georgia Tech. I am chafing at the unfairness of it all. Thanks for reading my blathering!

Terri Buchanan

Male Bashing's All-Time Low: "Boys Are Stupid. Throw Rocks at Them"

One of America's leading independent book publishers, Workman, has published a book called Boys are Stupid. Throw Rocks at Them.

Five of its eight chapters are aimed at children, three, on dating, at teens.

The book has spawned a line of tee shirts, bumper stickers, posters, coffee mugs, key chain, calendars, even a board game, all of which are available on Amazon and at other retailers. There's even a Yelp listing called, "Boys are Stupid. Throw Rocks at Them!!! Throwing More Rocks Every Day."

The author defended the book as being just for fun. Yet if the book made fun of girls, let alone of Blacks, would that book have been published by a major publisher, let alone spawned a panoply of products produced by other companies, let alone not excoriated by the media? A Google search reveals not one negative reviews of the book or outcry against the swag by any major media entity.

Indeed, MSNBC's liberal Dylan Ratigan opened his interview with the author of Boys are Stupid; Throw Rocks at Them and an opponent by asking, "What's the issue? They're having a good time, here." Ratigan closed the interview by telling the author, "Congratulations on the success of your business."

Earlier today, I had posted the entire text but I realize that might violate copyright law so I've deleted all but three chapters and include none of the copious illustrations. You'll nonetheless get a sense of the book.

Chapter 6: Boyfriends are Stupid

If you absolutely have to have a boyfriend, don't panic. Your life isn't completely over.

Why waste money on a cab? There's always public transportation. (Adjacent is a photo of a girl sitting on a boy's head, dangling a piece of pizza ahead of him so he keeps moving forward.)

What not to expect from a boy on a date: 1. hold your door open. 2. pay for dinner. 3. eat with utensils. 4. not farting or belching the entire time. 5. kiss you goodnight--this is a good thing--trust me! 6. call you again.

Phone rules: Do not wait by the phone for him to call. Most likely he doesn't even know how to use a phone.

Be afraid if your boyfriend: a. has more shoes than you, b: has bathroom products more expensive than yours, c: is on a fad diet, d: knows what kind of jeans you're wearing. And be super-duper afraid if you catch him wearing your panties.

Boy decoder: "It's not you it's me. I love you but I'm not in love with you. You deserve better. I need some space. I don't wanna ruin our friendship." They all mean the same thing but I'm too chicken to tell you:" I don't like you any more and I want to date your friend with big boobs."

What kind of girlfriend are you? Take this quiz: Let's say your boyfriend tried to kiss your best friend. Would you: a) blame yourself. b) make him cry. c) kiss his best friend. If you answered "a", close this book and hit yourself in the head with it.

Chapter 7: Break-Up Fun

The best way to break up with a boy is to pretend you don't know him.

Sometimes a boy won't accept that it's over. Be more direct: throw a rock. (Adjacent is a picture of him unconscious, frothing, with three rocks next to him.)

Maybe he says, "Don't leave me or I'll die." That's when a girl must do the meanest, cruelest, most awful things a girl can do. Make him someone else's problem: 1. Find a really dumb blond girl. 2. Introduce her to your boyfriend. 3. Run away.

Chapter 8: Training a Boyfriend

If for some stupid reason, you decide to keep a boyfriend, it's your job to train him.

Etiquette: a fork is to be used for eating food. Hint: Boys, the pointy pronglike utensil on the left side of the plate is a fork. (The left side is that-a-way<--)

A fork is not to be used for: 1. stabbing bugs. 2. sword-fighting with other stupid boys. 3. sticking up nose for booger excavation. 4. scratching butts.

Just a friendly reminder: boys aren't housebroken. Don't let them sit on your couch unless the plastic cover is on!

Boys can't accessorize: "Like that bag was so last year!"

Always check a boy before he leaves the house: 1. Make sure he zips his fly. 2 make sure his socks match. 3. Make sure he has on clean underwear. 4. Make sure his shoes are on the correct feet. 5. Make sure he's wearing pants!

And make sure under no circumstances whatsoever that a boy does laundry.

A boyfriend is not allows to spit, fart in the car, belch in front of your parents, follow you into the bathroom, make you pull his finger, put you in a headlock, put empty containers back in the fridge, dress himself, cut his own hair, give you a nickname, watch more than four hours of football in a day, and last but not least, act like he knows you in public!

Major rule: When you're telling him a problem, a boyfriend is not allowed to interrupt and tell you his opinion before you have even told him what the problem is! New Rule Rule: New rules may be invented on the spot and be retroactive.

And if he breaks the rules, just remember that for every stupid, smelly, cootie-ridden boy, there is a rock.

Another Letter from a Victim of Prejudice Against White Males

Here is the latest of the many letters I've received from white males who feel the pendulum has swung so far that it's slamming them in the chest:

Hello Mr. Nemko,

I have spent most of my life priding myself on my open-mindedness while living in a state where that commodity can be in short supply.

Unfortunately, over the last 10 years, my open attitude is being returned less and less often.

At first, I thought I was at fault, but with time and awareness, I have come to realize that the white middle-aged male is now the low person on the totem pole and everyone, including many white men, seem determined to keep it that way.

I have experienced racism and sexism. I have been ignored, berated, and ridiculed. I have been passed over for jobs and promotions that have been given to people with less experience and fewer abilities. Unfortunately, when I bring up these realities, people seem to look at me as if I were speaking a different language.

For a while, I was angry. At this point, I simply feel resigned. I’ve been around long enough to understand that a pendulum always swings and now, white males are the victims of that swing. I sure do feel sorry though for the young white men out there.

Sincerely,

David Dickson

whynotnow@mail.com

The Latest Example of Censorship of Politically Incorrect Thought

When even Kiwanis starts censoring politically incorrect thought, you know that today's McCarthyism from the Left has become woven into America's fabric.

I was invited to give a talk to the Kiwanis Club of San Francisco and asked what I wanted to talk about. I replied, "I'd like to talk about how, today, boys and men are treated unfairly relative to their merit."

The response from its program chair, who also is active in the feminist organization, Girls, Inc.: That will be acceptable only if the presentation is "positive," objective," and "non-incendiary."

I was expected to be "positive, objective, and non-incendiary" about, for example, that men die 5 1/2 years earlier than woman, and earlier of all ten of the top ten killers yet, over the last 50 years, 98% of the gender-specific medical research has been done on women? I was expected to be "positive, objective, and non-incendiary" about the fact that boys fail, drop out, and commit suicide at two to four times the rate of girls, yet most gender-specific programs are aimed at helping girls--unless you count as helping boys putting huge numbers of active boys on a Ritalin leash?

If women had been restricted to only being "positive," "objective," and "non-incendiary," the feminist movement might never have taken off. What moved women were not just academic tomes but passionate calls to action. And indeed, women were and are still allowed even praised for excesses in their calls for fair treatment for women. For example, I recall Andrea Dworkin's proclamation in her writings and speeches that all sexual intercourse is coercive and degrading to women. She wrote, for example, in her book, Intercourse, "Intercourse is the pure, sterile, formal expression of men's contempt for women."

Not only was Dworkin not excoriated, she was given platforms for her work that 99.99% of writers can only dream of: ten books published by prestigious publishers, at least some of which were reviewed in such publications as the New York Times, plus live appearances everywhere from Duke University to The Donahue Show.

Lest you think Dworkin is an isolated example of feminist excess, consider these quotes from icons of the women's movement:

Germaine Greer: "As far as I'm concerned, men are the product of a damaged gene."

Marilyn French (author of the iconic feminist book, The Women's Room): "All men are rapists and that's all they are."

Barbara Jordan (esteemed congressperson): "I believe that women have a capacity for understanding and compassion which (sic) a man structurally does not have, does not have it because he cannot have it. He's just incapable of it."

And of course there are the book titles, for example, such bestsellers as, Are Men Necessary?, by New York Times columnist, Maureen Dowd and Why Women Should Rule the World by former Bill Clinton press secretary and now sought-after TV talking head, Dee Dee Myers.

Of course, Kiwanis' muzzling me is, in itself, trivial. But that is just the latest in a generation of censorship that even moderate, female-friendly men's/boys advocates like me suffer whenever we dare raise a question about the current orthodoxy that women and minorities are mere victims of a racist and sexist white male hegemony.

For example, readers of this blog may recall that less than two weeks ago, in my sadness at education leaders' failure to close the black/white-Asian achievement gap and their unwillingness to state more than vague platitudes, I reposted a teacher's report of his experience in teaching a largely African-American high school.

I immediately received an inquiry from a fellow journalist who after quickly saying, "I don't want to do gotcha journalism but..." implied I was being racist in reposting it, asking me endless questions to prove I wasn't a racist. I believe I was able to assure him that my motives were benevolent and, to date, he has not published an article about me but such an interrogation--from a fellow journalist no less--certainly has a chilling effect on my willingness to post politically incorrect thoughts no matter how benevolently derived.

Among my most deeply held beliefs is that society is best when the free and open exchange of benevolently derived ideas is not only tolerated but encouraged. Today, society's major educators--the schools, colleges, and media--too often discourage that. When even Kiwanis censors politically incorrect thought, we're in trouble.

The Latest Painful Letter from a Victim of Reverse Discrimination

Because I've written widely on the topic of discrimination against men, I receive many letters from victims of it. Here's one I just received and found particularly painful to read.

Thank you, Dr. Nemko for being brave enough to write about reverse discrimination against white males. I'm writing here to provide yet one more case for what must be a very thick file.

My experience with reverse discrimination against white males started way back in the early 80s. In my interview for a job at the National Forest Service, the interviewer literally said to me that I wouldn't get hired because I was a white male. Indeed, two women without degrees (I had a forestry degree) got hired and I didn't.

More recently, I've suffered terrible discrimination in the pharmaceutical industry. I developed terrible back pain and so I requested to work part-time. Even though countless women at the company are granted permission to work part-time/job share, merely because they want to spend more time with their kids or simply don't want to work full-time, my more seriously based request was denied. H.R. told me, off the record, that part time/job shares were only for women. And don't think I was a bad employee--I have a 4"-thick collection of my accomplishments.

I tried litigation against my first company but no attorney would touch reverse discrimination. They told me they were afraid of being labeled sexist.

Finally, I got myself hired by a competing company, where I became the very first male job share. A colleague told me that my boss (a woman) hated me for being the first male job share. She did in fact try to make me go full time and insisted I get an MRI and EMG to prove I needed to stay part-time. I did so, which revealed two types of spinal stenosis, nerve damage on my whole right side, my spinal cord being pushed into my spinal canal in at least two places and herniated discs. I have extreme pain in my spine (cervical and lumbar) and both legs and arms.  As I said, women get to work part-time merely by saying they wanted time with their kids.

I have more experiences to share. It is so sad that political correctness is now so dominant in America. No longer are we solely judged on our efforts and result but on whether you're a woman or a minority. I'm sure that this issue is one of the unspoken reasons for America's decline and China and India's rise. I'm certainly glad I don't have a son. It would be terrible bringing him up in today's world.

Rich Scheben
mtmountains@gmail.com 

Will Obama Help This Defeated White Male

Because I have written about the rampant reverse discrimination in America, I receive many emails of frustration and depression from white males who feel they have been discriminated against.

But few have touched me as much as this man's because he's not the usual white collar guy who tends to write to me. He's one of "the people," the plain folk who Obama claims to care most about. Do you think Obama's "change" will help this man?

Here is this man's letter, unedited.

I am a white male that for many years has been stepped on. But it is not just our jobs that are being taken from us. For white males it iseverything . I am only 29 and I am blamed for every fear that another person has. Look at the law: How many laws protect a white males rights? Not as many as there is for a women or a different colored man.

The only thing a white male is allowed to do is to die . But only if someone else allows it . We are not allowed to say, do, think or even dream of freedom . That's not because of what we have done but for what they say they're afraid we might do .

People of different colors say that they want the same rights that we have . But they already get better than what we have. How is that fair ? Why is it that when a boat is sinking it is women and children first and let the men there to die if there is no room?

Women and different colored people ask us not to say that thay are different but claim that thay are different and are not treated the same . Well I hope that one day all people are treated the same even if all us white males are not here .

A young male is taught not to hit someone weaker or thay will be punished but if someone hits us we are to take it like a man . What ever comes out of our mouths is wrong .

So I say SORRY. Sorry I was born white. Sorry I was born male . Sorry you hate me . Sorry you don't have what you want . Sorry that for the last 29 years. I have
nothing else to give you and them but my life . U can have it . If it will let them be happy. All I have ever done is try to help people .

I'm sorry my skin is not darker . Maybe one day you will forgive me for being different .

Do you think Obama's policies will help this man? Remember that Obama's key labor advisor Robert Reich wants half of the 3-4 million jobs Obama intends to create to be specifically directed away from white males.

A Million Men Lose their Jobs While Women Keep Theirs

Compared with a year ago, more than a million fewer U.S. men have jobs according to the U.S. Dept of Labor. In contrast, despite the slow economy, women have suffered virtually no job loss.

Yet the media is quiet about it. Imagine how the media would respond in the reverse situation: women lost a million jobs while men kept theirs. 

White People Love to Be Offended

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/05/28/101-being-offended/

The Most Anti-Male Person in the World?

Following her book, "Are Men Necessary?" I shouldn't have been surprised at Maureen Dowd's most recent New York Times column.

Here are a couple of quotes from it:

"You simply operate on the assumption that no man matures after the age of 11."

“Most marriages that founder do so because of money — she’s thrifty, he’s on his 10th credit card."

That flips the reality on its head. American Demographic reports that women control consumer spending by a wide margin in nearly every consumer category. An Inc.com article states that women make "over 85% of the consumer purchases (in the United States) and influence over 95% of total goods and services."

The column listed criteria for a good husband and concluded that no men met the criteria.

This column is currently the #1 most-emailed New York Times column or article.

Would a major publication such as the New York Times publish something equally anti-woman, let alone anti-Black?

More Unfair Male Bashing

I was watching a PBS panel discussion among four women (nary a man) about why newly hired women scientists get strong evaluations yet half of women scientists stop working within the first few years. They offered only three explanations: machismo, sexual harassment, and employers not accommodating to employees' motherhood.

Why did none of the panel members mention any of these, which I have heard again and again from my women clients:

• Many women soon tire of the rigors and isolation of scientist work. Indeed recent research finds that women, on average, just aren't interested enough in science to make a long-term career out of it.
  
• They end up valuing being a mother more than working outside the home.
• They find it easier to be a stay-at-home mom.

As always in the mainstream (read "liberal") media, it's easier to just blame men.