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It’s a weeknight after a particularly tough day at work. You’ve just put the kids to bed. You can’t stop thinking about work, the problems waiting for you there tomorrow and it’s getting you down. You don’t feel like talking about it, especially not with your partner. You just want to be left alone to mull things over. You’re ready for a beer and the couch.

Your partner always knows when some thing’s up and tonight is no exception.  She sits beside you on the couch and asks ”Are you ok? You haven’t said much all night.” You reply with a curt, “I’m fine.” And you turn back to the TV hoping she will change the subject. Your partner is offended now and she gets up and leaves the room.

Does this sound familiar? It’s a common scenario that many men could avoid if they developed their emotional intelligence.

WARNING: WHAT FOLLOWS IS SEXUALLY AND SEXISTLY GRAPHIC:

In a recent post, Jennifer Drew added her analysis of the atrocity of gang rape. I welcome everyone to read that by clicking here and scrolling down to her comments.

One point I'd like to clarify, as a white U.S.er, is that racism and homophobia are not considered hate crimes in the U.S. Not even close. Nor are any institutionalised abuses against oppressed people understood, legally, as "crimes"--hateful or otherwise.

...and some stories are shared between the two.

Holla Back NYC empowers New Yorkers to Holla Back at street harassers. Whether you're commuting, lunching, partying, dancing, walking, chilling, drinking, or sunning, you have the right to feel safe, confident, and sexy, without being the object of some turd's fantasy. So stop walkin' on and Holla Back: Send us pics of street harassers!

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I got the following question posted as a comment to another thread which can be found here. This is the question:

This special issue of the ISIS International Women's Resource Centre's journal, Women in Action (based in the Philippines), is focused on men and gender equality. It features the following articles:
Feminist Project Seeks to Understand Men, by Rashidah Abdullah
Men's Involvement in Gender Equality Movements in Japan, by Hiroko Hashimoto
Home is Where the Hurt Is, by Ava Vivian Gonzales
Transforming Filipino Men Through Innovatve Projects
Express Yourself: Exclusive Discos in Manila, by Roselle Pineda
Why Women Spaces are Critical to Feminist Autonomy, by Patricia McFadden

This paper examines young heterosexual men’s participation in unsafe sex. A qualitative study of young heterosexual Australian men’s understandings and practices of safe and unsafe sex, involving in-depth interviews conducted with 17 men aged between 18 and 26, found that five principal themes recur in young men’s accounts for the non-use of condoms.

While program experimentation targeting men has mushroomed in many parts of the world, operations research that examines the feasibility, acceptability, and impact of genderbased approaches has been limited. In response to this gap, the Horizons Program, together with partner organizations, is undertaking important programmatic research among young men in three countries. The research seeks to better understand the linkages between gender norms and HIV risk behaviors, and to determine whether the interventions that are developed using this information make a difference in the lives of young men and their partners. This issue of the Horizons Report describes emerging findings from studies in Brazil, Tanzania (page 7), and India (page 10).

AVSC International and the International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western Hemisphere Region were the co-sponsors of the Symposium on Male Participation in Sexual and Reproductive Health: New Paradigms. Both organizations agreed that it would be useful for participants to have a summary of studies and published research about gender equity and male participation in sexual and reproductive health in Latin America, with an annotated bibliography, as a preparatory document for the symposium. This study reflects the co-sponsors’ commitment to compiling and sharing current knowledge about men and their participation in the relatively new and constantly expanding field of sexual and reproductive health.

Men’s reproductive responsibilities received global attention at the International Conference on Population and Development (Cairo 1994) and at the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing 1995). It was during these two meetings that men and women throughout the world agreed to work to achieve the objective of sustainable development. They reaffirmed the connection between population and development and the understanding that gender equality, together with men’s participation in reproduction and paternity, are essential components for sustainable development.

This Implementation Guide illustrates examples of how to develop, implement, and evaluate reproductive health (RH) programs that involve men with a gender-sensitive perspective – that is, in ways that promote gender equity and improve health outcomes for men and women. These program examples were presented at the conference, Reaching Men to Improve Reproductive Health for All, held in Dulles, Virginia in September 2003.