It really is refreshing (and unusual) to see the left speaking up for men.

How many times have we heard the left trot out tired mantra that men run the world? The implication being, of course, that individual men deserve no sympathy or help, regardless of the circumstances.

It is true that the world is run by a small number of men, but men do not run the world. Most men are poor and powerless, just like most women.

And, now that almost two thirds of college graduates are women, the power balance is swinging very much in women’s favor, particularly on the lower end of the socioeconomic scale. In fact, in many major U.S. cities, young women now out earn young men. These trends are even more pronounced in minority communities.

Feminism has focused for years on the complaints of upper middle class white women who resent the relative success of their male peers. In the process, it has painted all men, no matter how poor and powerless, as oppressors and all women, no matter how wealthy and powerful as “disadvantaged” and oppressed.

No wonder that ordinary working class men appear to be increasingly swinging right, even to the point of voting against their own economic interests.

Male babies aren’t anesthetized when they’re circumcised? Ouch! I used to work in a hospital and once saw a baby boy (not just any baby, but one born prematurely) being circumcised. I assumed he was anesthetized. I guess I was wrong.

The image of the circumcised penis is so prevalent in the media that one can forget that many of the world’s males aren’t circumcised.

A truly ground-breaking look at the MYTH of male power is Warren Farrell’s book, “The Myth of Male Power.”

Examples of his work can be found at http://battlinbog.blog-city.com/at_male_matters_july_16_the_worlds_most_insightful_gender_ex.htm

In counselling men over the last 5 years, in groups and individually, I began to realize that violence is an expression of powerlessness and that men are by and large conditioned into a narrow expression of their emotional life. I have also seen men hunger to be more fully human, to express themselves more fully as human beings, and become happier when they are able to do so. I have also seen how easy it is to revert to old ways of being, so that one must continually work to maintain a fuller life.

To help men in this regard, I have produced a film (http://www.fathersandsons.com.au) that demystifies mens’ groups which, I believe, can support men to develop the softer emotions. Many men have said they go home ‘quieter’, more available to the support their partners give and more capable of giving that support.

I have also seen many women with ’stellar careers’ begin to show the same attributes we have come to expect from the traditional male: stress, anger, and certainly little or no overt emotion like weeping.

Thank you Susan Rosenthal for the article. I will pass it on.

This is why I believe in advocating universal welfare. The current system allows the ex-wife to use the children as tools of aggrandizement, repression, and exploitation.

Ms. Rosenthal is absolutely correct that the problem are the results of capitalist social relations. There is no “battle of the sexes”. That is rhetoric designed to divide and conquer everyone and to keep parasitic lawyers and other henchmen employed.

Unfortunately the ruling class has many “tools” to weaken solidarity. Racism being a long standing one. The only solution is awareness and education to these social forces so that we can adjust our behavior and interaction toward each other while at the same time challenging the system that oppresses all of us.

As a physician-psychotherapist, I have been immersed in the problems of men, women and children for more than 30 years. I have come to realize that ALL of their problems are the result of capitalist social relations.

A separate theory of patriarchy is not needed. Patriarchy assumes that all men have an interest in oppressing all women. This is not true. The majority of men are ground down by the same system that oppresses women. And a minority of rich, privileged women are raised up by the same system that keeps their sisters down.

The theory of patriarchy is an obstacle to building class unity against capitalism. It’s time we discarded it.

I think this and other articles on this website are helping to balance to the issue of male-female relationship problems.

It has always bothered me to hear the phrase, “women and children”, as if women and children naturally belong in the same category. But that is, in fact, the way our patriarchal culture has viewed women, mostly as children, or adult females who lack the ability to take care of themselves, to have their own values, and opinions, etc. Of course, the history of capitalism has made women dependent to a great extent on men. Significant progress has been made to accommodate women as equals economically, and I think that the system can continue to accommodate women as equals. Meanwhile many people have not caught up with these changes, and as a result, still see women as victims almost automatically. I’ve seen some women use this to their advantage.

It’s patriarchy, which predates capitalism, that I think accounts for the lag in thinking realistically about male-female relationship issues. Even if we manage to overturn capitalism, we still will need to deal with patriarchal issues.

After years of being falsely arrested for domestic violence by a bipolar, psychotic, alcoholic woman who was always believed by the police I finally left her. I personally know of two other women who play the law this way.

Women have been taught to call the cops for revenge, out of anger, and a lot of reasons that have nothing to do with abuse. Something has to change. It’s so damn unfair.

She more than once had me locked up so she could be with her boyfriend. I absolutely don’t trust women.

Thank you for pointing out the politics of domestic violence. It is difficult to separate out the economics of domestic violence from the politics but you have managed to do that as well.

It is sexist to presume that only women are victims of domestic violence. I am an attorney who has handled cases of gay “DV” as well.

Domestic violence laws cut both ways. Any law can create victims as well as saving them. DV laws are often used as a weapon in Family Law Court for gaining an advantage often not justified by the facts alone.

Thank you for seeing this truth and having the courage to voice it. Many families are broken up by the very laws meant to protect women, just as child molestation and rape laws have been used for political purposes. Truth is never black-and-white.

We have to examine the evidence and the motivations, as well as the interest of the lawyers or social workers involved, before the system can begin to provide fairness to the individual and the family as a whole.

Your article is the tip of the iceberg of a huge question that needs exposure and thought. That is, our consciousness of our own human nature is constantly being molded to maximize profitability.

The most obvious effect of capitalism on men, more noticeable in the last 30 years in the U.S., is the inability of men to make a serious “living wage.” This is especially true if the man is not a college graduate, is from a working class family without connections, etc. and is trying to raise a family with one or two children.

All your time and energy is spent trying to work overtime, extra jobs, and sacrificing vacations for the extra money. The time necessary to maintain relationships with the spouse and children disappears as the years go by.

It is not just difficult to survive economically. For many it is impossible to make ends meet. Credit card debt piles up and is ultimately impossible to pay off.

Unresolvable economic stress causes inevitable arguments and finally divorce. Remarriage is out of the question as long as economic conditions remain unchanged.