Mens issues still misunderstood
By Michael E Endicott
In response to Susan l.ien's
commentary (ODE. July 11)
In my commentary (OI>E.
Max l i I said nothin?,: .ilmut
ra|n> or objii tificntion hs the
media. and I made no judg
ments about women’s servo os
I stated tile fac ts as the\ exist
and made very pointed com
ments about the mentalitv
required to ask the question
Are all men potential rapists'"
I also pointed out the inequali
ty inherent in spending hun
dreds of thousands of dollars
on women-spin tfit programs
and support structures while
makmg no real effottin ill
of the men on this campus In
far t I implied that the combi
nation of over zealous rape
awareness tact it s that impugn
the character of all men solely
based on their gender, the
University's support of male
exclusionary programs and the
lack of Uni versity-sponsoreri
support systems for men const i*
tuted a hostile environment for
men. This has been translated
into the angry. white male s\ n
drome bv people such as Susan
Lien, and is the shallow rent -
tion ol ideologues who r an not
see that the gender world is at
least two-dimensional Susan
must have missed my commen
tary (ODE, May Z-t) in which I
wrote. "I do not advoi ate for a
reduction of financial and ideo
logical support for women and
their issues
Susan's ( ommentarv is ,i
study in one-dimensional, sex
ist thinking. She restates the
dogma of victimization in the
areas of rape and objectification
while dutifully attacking me
because she thinks I disagree
She presents a list of risk
OPINION
management strategies she savs
are spot ifi< iti wtiimm anti
sums up with. Women alter
their lives i« avoid danger,"
Who doe* not do this' Wiiat
she does not sav ts that men are
tun (* as likely to In- victims of
v iolent crime, ant! three times
as likely to be murdered faery
risk management dor ision
women have to make men
have to make as well, and still
w e are beaten, mutilated,
robbed and murderer! signifi
cantly more often than w omen
1 hese are the things that her
conditioning dims not allow her
to si-o or a< t ept
She sins the media "convey a
sense of approval or t on went of
violent in ts against women ~ I
agree with her on this point
tint most oi what site says about
the snbjer t is uncritically
accepted sesisi dogma What
she dor's not say is that 95 per
cent of all people killed on tele
vision and in film are men! Our
children grosv up learning that
men are nothing more than dis
posable objects, esprx ially if a
woman is m danger
What does growing up as a
disposable ubjrs t mean for
men' It means that as we groyv
older, our suicide rate increases
dramatically College-age men
commit suicide at a rate siv
times higtier than women in the
same age group As boys la-gin
to feel ihe pressures of the male
role and begin to.express their
sexuality, suit ide rates
explode Women attempt sin
t ide to get help, men attempt
suicide to die her ause yye think
no help is available
We can see plenty of exam
pies of men as disposable
otijei Is in our six iety Men
m ( mint fur 74 pert ent of the
t' S homeless population. 95
pen ent of iht prison popuia
lion and W percent of all «a i u
palumal deaths* Men die of the
1 5 leading i ausex of death on
average almost 2 % time*, more
than women Men ire far more
likely to tm alcoholic s and drug
abuser*
The Inst example of one
dimensional sexist thinking
proffered bv Susan is Nufende
Although men are tvvue as like
Iv to !*• a v n tim of x lolent
crime, if vou an' a male.
Naferide is not for vou In fa*!.
Safe ride Is Imi ause of you Vou
are the threat, you are guilty t>v
gender alone The state has an
obligation to prole* ! all of its
citizens, not just women Open
Saferide There is « way t«i do it
that is equitable for all and
meets the needs of our campus
community
This university needs some
ha lam e in how it deals with
gender issues The current situ
at ion merely rein fori es the ill
loo-destructive stereo!V pes of
male as perpetrator and female
as victim These stereotv pes ire
politically expedient for people
sm h -is Susan, hut thev margin
abate tht* spec trum of the male
experience
The Men s ( enter attempts to
address some of those
inequities m a male foe used
socially responsible way that
addresses the fact that gender
issues are multidimensional 11
you are interested in lie* tuning
a mem tier of the Men's ( enter
or would like more information
about us you may t onlact us at
mee^gladstono or at i‘ () Box
f i<*2. Kugene. OR 8740 i
Mil Intel I Indit lift is the
director of the newly forming
Men 's Center nt the t ’nhersit)
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