The Pendulum Swings
The New Gender War?

There is a new “gender war” and the main target of discrimination is no longer women, according to research - it is men.

On Line Opinion, Australia's e-Journal of Social and Political Debate, (The political I try to avoid here, but the social roles of men are what this blog's about.) presents gender theorists and media researchers argueing that media representations of men are predominantly positive, or at least unproblematic. Men have allegedly been shown in mass media as powerful, dominant, heroic, successful, respected, independent and in other positive ways conducive to men and boys maintaining a healthy self-identity and self-esteem.

However, this view has come under challenge over the past few years. Here in the States, Susan Faludi’s 2000 best-seller Stiffed: The Betrayal of Modern Man concluded that men and masculinity were overwhelmingly presented negatively and as “something dangerous to be contained, attacked, denigrated or ridiculed, little else”.

I argued against the distorted male image in media in a previous post.

The lengthy article in On Line Opinion is based on research findings by Palgrave Macmillan University of Western Sydney, in the 2006 release, Media & Male Identity: The Making and Remaking of Men.

If the 1000-word essay is too much for you, I suggest you follow the comments from men and women instead. We're more enlightened than the media realize.