Friday, March 22, 2013

Men on Strike

Psychologist and blogger Helen Smith has announced a new book coming out this summer, Men on Strike: Why Men Are Boycotting Marriage, Fatherhood, and the American Dream - and Why It Matters:
American society has become anti-male. Men are sensing the backlash and are consciously and unconsciously going “on strike.” They are dropping out of college, leaving the workforce and avoiding marriage and fatherhood at alarming rates. The trend is so pronounced that a number of books have been written about this “man-child” phenomenon, concluding that men have taken a vacation from responsibility simply because they can. But why should men participate in a system that seems to be increasingly stacked against them?

As Men on Strike demonstrates, men aren’t dropping out because they are stuck in arrested development. They are instead acting rationally in response to the lack of incentives society offers them to be responsible fathers, husbands and providers. In addition, men are going on strike, either consciously or unconsciously, because they do not want to be injured by the myriad of laws, attitudes and hostility against them for the crime of happening to be male in the twenty-first century. Men are starting to fight back against the backlash. Men on Strike explains their battle cry.
Just read my blog, and you will get an idea why men are dropping out. Or read her blog.

She also comments on a NY Times story:
Only 63 percent of children lived in a household with two parents in 2010, down from 82 percent in 1970. The single parents raising the rest of those children are predominantly female. And there is growing evidence that sons raised by single mothers “appear to fare particularly poorly,” Professor Autor wrote in an analysis for Third Way, a center-left policy research organization.
She adds:
Boys and men right now are off to a bad start from day one and those who don’t go along with the female -privileged society are stuck on the sidelines. A boy’s typical day might be one with a single mom, mostly female teachers who rarely give him a break, a culture that tells him he is a pervert, TV shows, bulletin boards and news shows portraying him as a rapist and domestic violence abuser and all around bad guy. It’s no wonder men have opted out of an economy and culture that values them so little.
A reader sent this infographic about how single black women cannot find a suitable black man because they are all unemployed, fat, high-school dropouts, gay, prefering non-black women, or already have kids with another woman. And they don't even count the criminals and drug users! (Correction: They did count criminals.)

These figures sound impressive, but the truth is more nearly the opposite. The typical black girl is a sex maniac at age 14, has had a couple of abortions by age 17, a couple of kids by age 20, and is morbidly obese by age 25. Furthermore, they have a tradition of unstable matriachal families, and they are undermined by bad welfare incentives for illegitimacy.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

The typical black girl is poor. how about achieving parity between Whites and other ethnic groups with a high level of discrimination against individual Whites for admission to universities or access to employment opportunities and even a large taxation on Whites to counter the White advantage in the possession of wealth, since at present Whites are vastly overrepresented among the wealthy and the successful in the United States."

George said...

The world is full of poor people with stable marriages and families.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, but not so much in the U.S..

George said...

In the USA, we have an assortment of financial, feminist, and cultural incentives for single motherhood.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, that's quite true.

Anonymous said...

Somehow your posting took a sharp turn toward racism and antifeminism in its last couple paragraphs. The upcoming book you started with and the link to Dr. Helen's blog seemed more reasonable and interesting. Her thesis reminds me of Paul Goodman's Growing Up Absurd which was written more than fifty years ago.

As a single dad who had children relatively late in life, I experience dating issues similar to those the single black women mentioned. Women in my age bracket either didn't have children or their children are already grown. They want a man who can bring something financially so they can take expensive vacations. I'm still supporting my child and expecting to pay for college, too.

Anonymous said...

The infograph shows the criminals/been in jail, doesn't it ?

What you think calling black girls "sex maniacs", sounds racist ?

George said...

You're right, that was a racist over-generalization. I only wrote it to respond to negative generalizations about men.

Anonymous said...

Most of the statistics in that infographic are highly correlated, so the conclusion shouldn't be nearly as extreme as portrayed. A math maven like yourself would usually shred such an overgeneralization.

George said...

Yes, you are right that you can only multiply the probabilities like that if they are uncorrelated.

Anonymous said...

You're right, that was a racist over-generalization. I only wrote it to respond to negative generalizations about men.

12:54 PM

I don't get it. Do you think responding to negative generalizations about men with racist over generalizations towards others actually helps the image of men ? I think it hurts men, as a whole. It seems like a two wrongs make it right type of logic.

Gaining people's respect and support won't be acquired by behaving like a racist.

George said...

I sometimes make generalizations on this blog. I hope my readers are smart enough to understand that there are exceptions.

Anonymous said...

I'd hope that you're smart enough to avoid making racist generalizations.

just me said...

Man that anon is one uptight mofo. I'd hope he's smart enough to realize that other blogs would love him more.

Unknown said...

The book "Men on Strike" strikes a chord and parrots many of the ideas which I espoused in my book published last year entitled "THE BACHELOR'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY!" which goes into great lengths why men are avoiding marriage, children and the 'traditional father mold' of our forebears. My book goes into great detail why the new American Dream is now being a free-wheeling American bachelor with all the advantages of being on the cutting edge of society! You can find "THE BACHELOR'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY!" at Amazon.com or Barnesandnoble.com or fine bookstores now.

Unknown said...

The book "Men on Strike" is good, but the ORIGINAL "Men on Strike" book which goes into way more depth about the Bachelor Lifestyle of today came out a year earlier entitled "THE BACHELOR'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY!" written by Author Larry 'Von Lars' Wehunt. It's an awesome book and is written by a MAN, unlike the Men on Strike book written by the female author. Author Von Lars talks about the Awesome Bachelor lifestyle of today including ALL facets of life! Check it out. It's a CULT CLASSIC on the college campuses NOW MAN!

Anonymous said...

As a young black female I would like to know where are statistics that indicate that "The typical black girl is a sex maniac at age 14, has had a couple of abortions by age 17, a couple of kids by age 20, and is morbidly obese by age 25"
the vast majority of my circle consists of black females that have managed not to fit into any of these categories and it is insulting to decide that we are the exception. The FACT that there are far more black females than males that attend colleges and universities is true. The fact that most single mothers did not choose to be alone is true. If you are going to throw out the statement that the majority of us are sex crazzed abortion having baby yielding machines is ludicrous and should be supported with some kind of evidence if it is at all true.

Black women and black men have stereotypes that we must fight against. We choose our responses as we see fit but bashing black women in order to uplift men is a sign of weakness...especially since we are part of the same struggle.