The Myth of Male Power

For our daughters, when the prosperity of industrialized countries allowed for the option of divorces in the ‘60’s and 70’s, women became liberated from marriage and motherhood as the sole definition of feminine purpose. Fortunately, feminism pro-actively filled women’s “purpose void” with visions of careers, liberation and equality. A woman’s new

REDEFINING A BOY’s SENSE OF PURPOSE Previously, boys defined themselves as a man in three ways: preparing for war; preparing for work; being a dad who is a provider-protector. Together these created a man’s “sense of purpose.”

When the issue of sexual harassment surfaced, then, we were told “men don’t ‘get it’ ” when, in fact, neither sex “gets” it. Men don’t get women’s fears of harassment that stem from the passive role; women don’t get men’s fears of sexual rejection that stem from the initiating role. Each sex is so preoccupied with its own vulnerability that neither

They see their sex being identified as the discriminators, rapists, date rapists, deadbeat dads, wife-batterers, sexual harassers, serial killers, greedy “banksters,” and unfaithful cheaters. It can feel as if they are at the top, bottom and middle of women’s “enemy list.”

if you are both reader and leader, that just as the women’s movement redefined women and expanded our daughters’ future, you will employ The Myth of Male Power to redefine men and expands our sons’ future—thus preparing our sons to become the men our daughters will be proud to love.

If you dare be more than a reader—but a reader who makes a difference—know that you will be distorted and demonized. You will have to confront bureaucracies that have tried to stuff the round peg of gender relations into the square hole of oppressor vs. oppressed that was appropriate for slavery, but not for families. You will be guiding an “evolut

It would be hard to find a single example in history in which a group that cast more than 50 percent of the vote got away with calling itself the victim. Or an example of an oppressed group which chooses to vote for their “oppressors” more than it chooses to have its own members take responsibility for running. Women are the only minority group tha

Each history book is 500 pages of advertisements for the performer role. Each lesson tells him, “If you perform, you will get love and respect; if you fail, you will be a nothing.” To a boy, history is pressure to perform, not relief from that pressure. Feminism is relief from the pressure to be confined to only the traditional female role. To a bo

Start a support group of other men with whom you can explore these feelings.* As men, we tend to place all our emotional eggs in the basket of the woman we love and then become fearful of saying anything that might crack those eggs. A group allows an alternate source of emotional support. And a place to sort out feelings worth discussing before you