Comments on: Men Leaders Notice Lady Problems

By: Christina

Christina — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 13:30:46 +0000

I’ll take this as a good sign! Though my first thought was, “pfff! They had to create another boy’s club- for violence against women!?” Then I thought about it and, as unfortunate as it sounds, I think that a lot of men will be more comfortable discussing and more responsive to this topic if it comes from other men.

That doesn’t mean that women shouldn’t still be involved, of course, but at least more men are taking an interest and that’s what is most important.

By: wondering

wondering — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:07:49 +0000

I’m inclined to think that it’s not getting much coverage partly because US news services don’t tend to cover the UN unless there is a scandal that makes the UN look bad.

I’ve seen this covered on Canadian and British news services.

By: bluebears

bluebears — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 19:25:43 +0000

Yeah, I guess it’s a fine line to walk when creating a “men only” type of group. I do absolutely think its important for men to be involved and to realize their own role in this.

By: BeckySharper

BeckySharper — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:40:14 +0000

“Network of Men Leaders” is just tautology anyway–at least, for the vast majority of the world.

I agree with the spirit of the thing, obviously, but it’s sad that it has to be phrased as “we men will get together to help the wimminz” instead of “we leaders will work to stop human rights abuses in our societies.”

By: ShinyObjects

ShinyObjects — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:39:50 +0000

I’m feeling optimistic today, so I’ll take this as a good sign! I think this _is_ a positive step on the road to mainstream awareness that domestic/sexual violence against women is, in fact, a men’s problem, given that men are overwhelmingly the perpetrators. I think it is OK to have a network of men (only men) who stand together and say “we recognize that men have been abusing and killing women for too long, and we aren’t going to stand for it anymore.”
Though I wish he had gone even farther with this sentence: “Violence against women and girls will not be eradicated until all of us – men and boys – refuse to tolerate it.” More provocative would be to say “refuse to commit it.” That would be along the same lines as a suggestion I saw recently: instead of repeating statistics like “1 in X women will be raped or sexually assaulted in her lifetime,” say “1 in X men will commit rape/violence against women in his lifetime.” I’d be fascinated to see that paradigm shift happen in the MSM.

By: baraqiel

baraqiel — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:38:36 +0000

No, instead the CNN frontpage stories right now are about the cop shooting in Seattle (which actually is really important to the national political scene since the guy they think did it was pardoned and freed by Mike Huckabee and is wanted for other things apart from this, including statutory rape) and the Tiger Woods thing. People: Tiger Woods’ marriage is not news.

Still, it’s nice to see the UN commit to this (assuming anything will actually come of it). I understand the use for there to be a group of men addressing the problem of male violence against women — after all, we’re always telling men that they should take responsibility for male violence against women. I don’t think it should be the only group, or the most important group, but I do think such a group can be productive in ways that a group of women or a co-ed group can’t necessarily be (if only because, realistically, some men will only listen to other men).

By: SarahMC

SarahMC — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:35:50 +0000

I laughed out loud at the name “Network of Men Leaders.”

By: theorchidthief

theorchidthief — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:32:31 +0000

Wow. Thanks for posting this! I didn’t come across this either. I like to post these types of things on my FB – even if people don’t click the article (and I doubt they do)…they might just read the headline.

By: mischiefmanager

mischiefmanager — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:30:08 +0000

Bluebears, I don’t read it that way. It sounds to me like he’s acknowledging that since the vast majority of violence done to women is done by men, it’s men who must stop it. I think we’d agree with that. To the extent that it takes men to pressure, educate and shame (and whatever else it takes) other men, this statement seems right on to me.

But yeah, funny how it got NO press coverage. I guess the MSM was very busy with Jon and Kate or whoever it was last week.

By: bluebears

bluebears — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:06:11 +0000

I don’t understand why he is solely calling/creating this Network of Men Leaders. It’s great that he wants men to be involved, clearly they need to be, but the whole “hey men lets fix this problem for the women” attitude seems a mite condescending. Why can’t it be an inclusive network of men and women?