Glenn Sacks

[MYSONSDAD]

His Side on Fox Special on Boys & Education, Feminist Magazine Slanders Glenn
 
June 28, 2005
 

The audio of  Sunday's His Side--"NOMAS Leader Michael Kimmel Criticizes Men's Movement"--can be heard by clicking here. On the show Kimmel, America's leading male feminist, actually admitted that "there's a ton of men getting screwed in family court."


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His Side with Glenn Sacks on Fox Special on Boy Crisis in Education

Fox just aired a special on the boy crisis in education which featured clips from His Side, an in-studio interview with me, an interview with Michelle Ventimiglia, the director of the preschool that both of my children attended, and feminist sociology professor Mary Blair-Loy of the University of California at San Diego.

The jumping off point for the piece was my Los Angeles Times column New Study of Youth Shows It's Boys Who Are in Crisis (3/20/05). In that column I discussed the Boy Crisis in education and criticized Duke researchers for hiding boys' disadvantage in their reporting of the results of their study of youth. The researchers wrote the Times,  accusing me of  "cherry-picking" from their data to support my arguments. However, I "picked" nothing, but instead looked at all 28 indices of child well-being which they studied and noted that while boys and girls fared equally in six of the 28 categories, girls fared better than boys in 17 of the remaining 22.

Ventimiglia, whose school is very attuned to boys' learning styles and educational needs, spoke movingly of the way modern schools are failing our boys. Blair-Loy gave the standard feminist response, which is:

deny that the boy crisis exists
assert that whatever happens with boys in school, males will still end up earning more money than females, so boys' school problems are not important
assert that the differences in education are related to race and income level, not gender
Regarding point #2, as I noted on Fox, males earn more money because they make more sacrifices to earn money, whereas women are still more oriented towards the domestic sphere. To hear a debate on the wage gap, see Martha Burk v. Warren Farrell on the 'Wage Gap' (His Side, 5/22/05).

As for point #3, it certainly is true that race and ethnicity play a large role in education, particularly in heavily immigrant areas such as Southern California. But the gender differences between boys and girls are also stark.

Much of the problem is political, and may sound familiar to fathers who've been through family court--there's a political price to be paid for giving females a raw deal, but no corresponding political price for shafting males. Boys are in crisis in part because the schools are under little pressure to adapt themselves to boys' needs and learning styles. As I noted in my column Start of School Very Different for Parents of Boys, Parents of Girls  (Washington Times, 9/12/04):

"The educational establishment has reacted to the boy crisis in education in a way reminiscent of Bertolt Brecht's famous poem about calls to reform or dissolve the unpopular government of East Germany: the government found it difficult to reform itself, so would instead choose to 'dissolve the people and elect another.'

Similarly, rather than reform a system woefully out of touch with boys' real world natures and needs, our schools find it easier to demand that boys be something other than boys."

To watch the Fox feature, which was filmed back in April, click here.


Feminist Magazine Slanders Glenn, Attacks Fathers' Movement

The feminist publication The Mother's Movement Online recently slandered me, calling me a "supporter of father's custody." As I've made clear on countless occasions, I am not an advocate for paternal sole custody any more than I'm an advocate for the present system of maternal sole custody. Paradoxically, the article criticizing me linked to a column I co-authored which advocates shared custody--Can Abolishing Sole Custody Curb Divorce? (New York Sun, 10/2/02).

In addition to criticizing me (who they humorously dubbed a "big name right-wing radio personality"), the publication also took aim at Fathers 4 Justice, Wendy McElroy, Jason Hatch, and others. The article is Judith Stadtman Tucker's What's wrong with the father's rights movement.

The magazine can be reached at [email protected].


Senator Obama Attacks Black Fathers

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) attacked black fathers last week--see Obama's church sermon to black dads: Grow up and Obama's Here's what it takes to be a bona fide `full-grown' man (Chicago Tribune, 6/22/05). According to the Tribune:

"'There are a lot of folks, a lot of brothers, walking around, and they look like men,' Obama said, drawing laughter from the congregation. 'And they're tall, and they've got whiskers--they might even have sired a child. But it's not clear to me that they're full-grown men.'

Citing St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians, Obama said too many fathers 'engage in childish things, who are more concerned about what they want than what's good for other people.'"

I believe that black fathers often get a bad rap, and that black fatherlessness is as much a product of mothers' choices as of fathers'--see my column National Fatherhood Initiative's Ad Campaign Insults African-American Fathers (Pasadena Star-News & Affiliated Papers, 6/14/03) and the His Side show National Fatherhood Initiative Attacks Black Fathers


National Review's Catherine Seipp Launches Another Assault on Fathers

National Review columnist Catherine Seipp has launched another assault on fathers, this time on the fathers' rights movement specifically in her new Father's Day column But Dad Can't Do It All (6/17/05).

Seipp and I clashed after she insulted fathers last Father's Day in her column "Meet Today's Dad: A model to avoid" (National Review Online , 6/16/04)--to listen to her on His Side, go to Is Today's Dad a Wimp and a Slacker? (7/25/04). Seipp then took another swipe at me in her column Vox Populi and Me: My tour on the local talk-radio circuit (National Review Online, 8/18/04).

To write to Catherine, click here.

I've often made the point that while many in the men's and fathers' movement point to feminists as the sole cause of injustice to men, a large part of the problem is not feminists but instead traditionalists, male and female. Seipp is no feminist, but instead criticizes us from the "shut up and be a man" perspective shared by many anti-feminist and non-feminist women. As I've said many times, "be a man" is often code for "go do something stupid that benefits someone else but is not in your best interests."


Are You a NY Father Looking for Family Law Help?

Stuart L. Melnick, a prominent commercial litigation attorney who also practices family law, is a passionate opponent of the current family law system who is looking to help New York fathers with their family law/custody problems. To learn more and to contact Stuart, click here.


Will I See You at the Men's Equality Conference 2005?

I will be speaking at the 2005 Men's Equality Conference July 15 and 16 in Washington D.C.--to attend, click here. Also speaking will be Warren Farrell, Stephen Baskerville, Jack Kammer, Carnell Smith, and Dave Burroughs.  The 2005 Men's Equality Conference will be held 3 blocks from the US capitol.  For more information, visit //www.TrueEquality.com.

Last year's conference was exceptionally well-done. My speech to the conference last year was The Future of the American Father.

 

MENS - Men Enabling New Solutions is a gender-neutral, non-profit organization based in Sacramento, dedicated to the equal rights of men, women and children within family law.  MENS advocates for legislative reform and provides personal assistance to victims of the divorce industry.   To learn more about MENS or to make a donation, log on to mensolutions.org. Donations go to support shared parenting efforts. That's mensolutions.org.

The Dakapa Handbook is the story of how a father's love for his children enables him to create an adventure that will forever bond them together. Written by Tom Whelan, The Dakapa Handbook  is a feel good story based on the backdrop of a bitter divorce proceeding. Whelan's ingenious use of sarcasm and wit will make you both laugh and cry. To order the book, click here.

If you're a man struggling with relationships, depression, anger or anxiety, the Men's Center Los Angeles can help. The Men's Center Los Angeles offers individual, couple, family and group counseling with a focus on men's issues. In counseling couples, the Men's Center Los Angeles helps men and women communicate better, resolve conflicts and create intimacy. The Men's Center Los Angeles also offers workshops and retreats. Call them at (818) 348-9302 or go to //www.MensCenterLosAngeles.com.  

 

If you own a business or professional practice and are interested in advertising on the show, please contact [email protected]. To support the advertisers who support His Side, go to His Side Advertisers.

To become a His Side supporter and have CDs of all His Side shows for six months mailed to you, click here.  

As always, all information about the show can be found at HisSide.com. I welcome your comments and suggestions.

Best Wishes,
Glenn Sacks
Listen to His Side with Glenn Sacks
GlennSacks.com

 

NOMAS Leader Michael Kimmel
Criticizes Men's Movement

Sponsors of the 2005 Men's Equality Conference, to be held July 15 and 16 in Washington D.C., believe that males are often disadvantaged, and that feminism is part of the problem. Among the grievances cited by the conference are unfairness or inequity in Family Courts, Education, Health, Domestic Violence policies, Paternity Fraud, Criminal Law, and in Reproductive Rights.

 

Author and sociologist Michael Kimmel, National Spokesperson for the pro-feminist men's group the National Organization for Men Against Sexism (NOMAS), disagrees, to put it mildly. In his book Manhood in America Kimmel, America's leading male feminist, calls the men's movement "whiners." According to Kimmel:

 

"Fathers' rights groups use a language of equality to take their revenge against women to court, to demand mandatory joint custody without demonstration of father's prior involvement. Most advocates of men's and fathers' rights are disgruntled and divorced dads who blame their wives and their wives' lawyers..."

 

Kimmel says the men's movement analysis of gender issues is "so misguided, its inversions so transparent, its anger is displaced onto those who have traditionally been excluded, that it can hardly offer any man of reason a convincing picture of men's situation." To Kimmel, those who assert that the tables have been turned against men in the gender wars are looking at the world "through a funhouse mirror."

Kimmel joined Glenn on His Side with Glenn Sacks on Sunday, June 26.  To listen to the show, click  here.

To learn more, see:

The 2005 Men's Equality Conference

National Coalition of Free Men

Michael Kimmel's website

Michael Kimmel's work

Michael Kimmel's biography

National Organization for Men Against Sexism's 30th Annual Men and Masculinity Conference

Glenn's newspaper columns on issues addressed by the 2005 Men's Equality Conference:

Family Law:

Convicted Murderess Can Get Custody but Decent Fathers Can't
Houston Chronicle (9/19/03)

Not the Era of the Deadbeat Dad but the Era of the Hero Father
Ft. Worth Star-Telegram (6/19/05)

Laws Must Protect the Rights of Military Dads
Army Times, Marine Corps Times (3/28/05)

Boys and Education:

New Study of Youth Shows It's Boys Who Are in Crisis
Los Angeles Times (3/20/05)

Start of School Very Different for Parents of Boys, Parents of Girls
Washington Times (9/12/04)

Why I Launched the Campaign Against 'Boys are Stupid' Products
Los Angeles Daily News (2/4/04)

Why Males Don't Go to College
She Thinks (11/13/02)

Men's Reproductive Rights:

Do Women Really Want a Male Birth Control Pill?
Newsday (4/11/05)

 30 Years After Roe v. Wade, How About Choice for Men?
Mail & Guardian (1/27/03)

'Sperm Theft' Ruling a Step Forward for Men's Reproductive Rights
Houston Chronicle (3/6/05)

False Accusations:

Baseball Player's Domestic Violence Arrest Demonstrates How Men are Presumed Guilty in Domestic Disputes
Los Angeles Daily Journal (8/8/02)
San Francisco Daily Journal (8/8/02)

Kobe Bryant Ruling a Step Towards Equity in Rape Trials
San Francisco Chronicle (8/1/04)

Paternity Fraud:

Preserving Paternity Fraud
Orange County Register (10/3/02)

His Side with Glenn Sacks can be heard on WSNR AM 620 in New York City and North-Eastern New Jersey, and on WWZN AM 1510 in Boston on Sundays at 10 PM EST. The show can also be heard in Southern California on KTIE AM 590 at 5 PM PST. To listen live via the Internet from anywhere in the world, go to Listen Live. Both radio and Internet listeners are encouraged to call and participate in the show live and on the air at 1-800-439-4805 (lines open Sundays from 5-6PM PST).

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