Male Discrimination

Male Discrimination

The nineteenth amendment giving women the right to vote was probably the first major accomplishment of feminism with the cause of suffrage. Abolitionists, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton took up this cause because they were appalled and felt slighted when the fifteenth amendment gave male slaves, but not women the right to vote. "Discrimination (usually in employment) that excludes one sex (usually women) to the benefit of the other sex" (Webster) This definition of sexual discrimination has been widely accepted starting with feminists, Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, and Carol Hanisch who made "feminism" a household word. Radical feminists of the early 1960's burned their bras to call attention to the plight of females. Through three waves of feminism starting with suffrage and ending with the color of skin, ("Feminism") women have made great strides and have influenced many court decisions; however, these advancements for females seem to come at the expense of the opposite sex as articulated in published reports and records not limited to the United States and includes the definition of reverse discrimination in popular dictionaries.

In Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context, the argument exists that the feminist movement is not relevant in the twenty-first century and has divided the very movement. The National Organization for Women will concede that today women are far better off in the workplace, in domestic abuse and in being able to choose their own lifestyle; however, they believe that women still face discrimination albeit subtle. Prostitution and exotic dancing is the subject of debates about the exploitation of women. For each one that claims these are glaring examples of exploitation, there will be those that believe that these are free choices of the lifestyle preferred by some women. Some view men as the greatest beneficiaries of feminism because they are willing to let the women have the right to choose, but this right gives them the flexibility to have relationships without commitments. ("Feminism")

There can always be discrimination against female or male under the guise of "management prerogative." There are labor laws in the Philippines which protect the rights of workers prohibiting bias because of gender, religion, and the third sex referring to gays and lesbians; however, management could take the liberty of deciding that a man might be better suited for a position because it might entail manual labor; a woman might be better suited than an equally qualified man for a desk job. (The Manila Times) Under the same management prerogative, men can be delegated to manual labor.

According to estimates published by the National Association of Working Women, only 1% of harassment cases involve women harassing men. If sexual harassment is about power, it may well be that as more women rise to positions of power, more cases will be reported. Men tend to want to "just forget about it" when they are the target of unwanted sexual advances. As in the case with Mary Kay Letourneau, a Seattle schoolteacher who pleaded guilty to the statutory rape of her student and having a child with him, a woman who is boss may want to have a relationship with a male who works for her. (Coping with Sexual Harassment and Gender Bias, Pgs 110-111)

Ellen Simon, Civil Rights lawyer, reports that sex discrimination against men violates Title VII. In November 2009, Lawry's Restaurants Inc. was the target of an EEOC class action lawsuit settled for $1,025,000.00. This restaurant had policies to only hire women as wait staff/servers. When it was found that this discriminated against a certain class of men, Lawry's agreed that they would hire men and thus change their long-standing policy; set up a half million dollar fund to pay to the plaintiffs; conduct an advertising campaign up to $300,000.00 for hiring servers; and pay fines and $225,000.00 to train their employees and managers about the Title VII laws. The Cheesecake Factory, Inc. paid a second settlement of $345,000.00 to male employees who had been raped and fondled by other men. (Today's Workplace).

A New York Times report reveals that 82% of the layoffs in this down economy occurred among the male population. Most layoffs were union jobs that had higher salaries and good benefits. The United States is set to have more women employed than men for the first time in our history. Because women are willing to work fewer hours and with fewer benefits, this is not considered to be a good milestone. (Newser.com)

Chances are that a woman will out earn her man during her lifetime. According to Stephanie Coontz, author and Evergreen State College Family Studies teacher, "Both have to give up the 1950s definition of masculinity and femininity and focus on how they can be their best as individuals inside a couple." (Stephanie Coontz). Coontz believes that this compromise is mandated when the wife earns more. Today, the female earns more than the man in one out of every three households. This number is expected to continue to increase just as it has every year since 2000. (Chicago Tribune)

According to the results of a 14-school study, both men and women report being exposed to gender discrimination and harassment in Medical Education, occurring more frequently in general surgery and obstetrics -gynecology. Researchers state that perception is reality; therefore, it can be concluded that gender discrimination and harassment exist in the medical education field. (Academic Medicine)

Males are the targets of discrimination throughout the world as evidenced by published reports from United Kingdom. The United Kingdom statistics show that discrimination is happening in, but not limited to health, domestic violence, family courts, passports, criminal law and wealth.

Health is listed as discriminatory against men because on the average women live longer than men. This seven-year difference is said to give women an advantage over men. Screening tests are made available to women for breast and cervical cancers. Men are not offered free screening for prostate and testicular cancer even though the rate of death from these male cancers are about the same as deaths caused from breast cancer. In addition, breast cancer is not restricted to women. Men are diagnosed with breast cancer more frequently than first realized. Men have more heart attacks before the age of sixty-five; however, the number one killer of women is heart disease which may make this heart attack argument a moot point. (UK Men and Father's Rights)

The Department of Health publishes a guide to women's services regarding domestic violence. In all their published statistics it never states that studies have

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