On WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH

So it's been a few months since the last post but I have not found myself lacking in topics to write about. I have been approached with issues like Title IX, Tiger Woods' apology and more recently the current controversy including New York State Governor David Patterson. I would love to get into all of those and perhaps I will soon. But given that we have just entered March I thought this was a little more appropriate.

A little housekeeping first. Many of you read the blog I posted a few months ago on the Biurny Peguero false rape case. For those who missed that one, Ms. Peguero falsely accused a man of raping her and recently told authorities that she had fabricated the story to cover for a fight she had been involved in with some female friends at a club. The accused man spent 4 years in prison after being wrongly convicted. Last week Peguero pled guilty to perjury charges and has been sentenced to 1-2 years in prison. I am willing to call it a small victory but I'll take any victory I can get at this point.

On to today's topic: WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH.

"My God Steve! The name itself is discriminatory... Isn't it?"

Well, yes. But it's also an accurate way to describe what it entails. Recognized by congress in 1987, National Women's History Month is a time to reflect upon the great contributions of women throughout our country's history. Influential women like Harriet Tubman, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Susan B Anthony, Sandra Day O'Connor, Hillary Clinton and Nicole "Snooki" Pilozzi are honored. (Ok I made the last one up but you get the point.) Each year March represents a time in which we celebrate the accomplishments of women in our society and prove that women possess a power equal to men in making a difference for social good.

The question posed to men's rights advocates is as follows: Shouldn't we have a MEN'S History Month to celebrate the great accomplishments of the male gender throughout history? Well that would make things more equal I guess. We should give people a month out of the year to honor the fine men in our country who have made contributions to social progress and the betterment of our world as a whole.

On second thought... THAT'S RIDICULOUS!

Now as anyone who reads my blog regularly is aware, I am typically in favor of gender equality across the board. This isn't one of those times. Sorry, guys. We already have awareness of the great contributions of men throughout history. It's called "HISTORY". Men have dominated many of the high profile positions that could even bring about social change for thousands of years. The simple truth is that most of the important names of leaders in government, the arts and society as a whole (as we are required to learn in Social Studies classes) are male names. For a very long time, men were the only ones who could participate in these areas in any sort of influential capacity. We don't need any further appreciation of men's history. We have plenty of that already.

I believe that Women's History Month is not an afront to the men's rights movement at all. Rather, I think it is a valuable tool that we can use to forward our cause to help bring about the changes that we desire in society. As women across the U.S. come together to celebrate gender equality, let's remind them of the inequalities that we still see today. Let's go out to the luncheons, benefit dinners and meetings to support women's causes and bring up these issues. Here are some good questions we should be asking at these things:

~With the population disparity between men and women nowadays, would it be fair to call men a recognized minority? If so, do we face the same issues that other minorities have faced in the past?

~Is enough being done to support male victims of domestic abuse and sexual assault?

~Women make up only 15% of all homeless people living in this country and less than 25% of the suicides. Is that a victory for women?

~If we hold the belief that "behind every good man is a woman", shouldn't it also stand to reason that behind all of these powerful woman was a man supporting her?

These issues need to be addressed and there is no time like the present. Let's get them thinking about these inequalities while the sexual discrimination of the past is fresh in their minds. And who knows? Maybe 50 years down the road we will celebrate the great contributions made to the men's right movement by great difference-makers like Glenn Sacks, Warren Farrell, Marc Rudov and, of course, ME.~~STEVE


As always your comments are appreciated. Also, I would like to know what YOU want me to write about. The lines are open and I'm taking requests!