Whenever I talk about the stark disadvantages faced by men and boys, someone is quick to wave it away as some kind of ‘catching up exercise’, often involving pendulums. ‘Well men were advantaged for millennia, now it’s our turn!’ Said the sassy thirty year old, who never experienced such a society. And I gotta say – this piggy backing off of the suffering of our ancestors; who we never knew, and whose lives we never lived, has to stop. You were not there. And neither was I. So I want to talk about this concept of ‘women catching up’, as a means of justifying mens disadvantages today. As over the last fifty years, women have done miraculously well in running after men, closing the gap, and have since, in many areas, blasted straight past them. Whilst women were disadvantaged in education and health historically, but the story of today is now inverted, with women now enjoying better outcomes in both of thee things, than many men. So what is enough? And when do we stop swinging the pendulum? American men lead in nine of the top ten causes of death, are you holding out for all ten out of ten, before the checkered flag is waved? Who is catching up here exactly? Boys are behind at every stage of education, in almost every developed country, and have been so for more than thirty years, is that enough revenge or 'pendulum swinging' for you? When do we stop punishing today's men and boys, for the actions of their ancestors? When do we rewrite the book on equality? When is the so-called patriarchy smashed? And when do we actually allow ourselves to help everybody who needs it? ~ [1] [2][3][4] United Nations ESCO Mens health  WEF Global Gender Gap Report 2022 Images by Black Kiwi Hug, Gradienta, Fabio Alves, Agreen and Kiwi Hug from Unsplash #genderequality

2023-02-12