Some males lead society; most work hard, die early

Monday, January 25, 1999

Some males lead society; most work hard, die early

STATISTICS: Inequalities exist for men, reveal root of so-called
‘gender gap’

By Glenn Sacks

In her response to Jeff Burhans’ silly letter "Language police
erasing ‘man’ from vocabulary, society" (Viewpoint, Jan. 11), Megan
Hall tells Burhans to "keep your mouth shut" because "your life is
easier because you are male" and that males are the "oppressors in
our society" (Viewpoint, "Use of ‘man’ overlooks half of
population," Jan. 20).

Hall, no doubt, has looked up at the top of our society – the
senators, the owners of large corporations, etc. and has seen
(correctly) that they are overwhelmingly male. The problem is that,
while looking up at the top of our society, she fails to look down,
at the bottom. There she would find quite a different picture.

For example:

1. Every year between 8,000 and 10,000 people are killed in
workplace and industrial accidents – 95 percent of them are male.
Of the 25 jobs listed as most dangerous by the U.S. Department of
Labor, 24 of them are largely or exclusively male (Monthly Labor
Review, Labor Department, Labor Statistics Bureau and the National
Center for Health Statistics, U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services).

2. Eighty-five percent of the homeless people in the United
States are male ("Address Unknown: The Homeless in America" by
James D. Wright).

3. Well over 85 percent and perhaps as high as 90 percent of the
suicides in our society are committed by males (National Center for
Health Statistics, U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services).

4. Over 80 percent of the victims of violent crime (murder,
rape, assault, etc.) are male (U.S. Department of Justice, Office
of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Criminal
Victimization in the United States).

5. Men live seven years fewer than women do – and the "life gap"
is growing (University of California, Berkeley Wellness Letter and
from the World Almanac).

6. Over 90 percent of our prison population is male – tens of
thousands of them imprisoned for non-violent drug offenses. Men
often receive 1.5 times or even twice the prison sentence that
women do for the same crime – a stunning "gender gap." Under
California’s idiotic "three strikes" laws – which makes no
distinction between violent and non-violent crimes, males are being
given 25 years to life sentences for stealing aspirin or a slice of
pizza.

7. Male high school students are far more likely to be expelled
from school, to drop out of school, to be murdered, or to commit
suicide than females. Females are more likely to graduate high
school, enter college and graduate from college.

8. Men work 90 percent of the over-time hours in this country.
The average full-time employed male’s work week is 48 hours,
compared to only 40 for women. Men have the longest commutes, the
most dangerous jobs, and are the most likely to work at night or
far away from home.

Incidentally, these realities – not discrimination – are the
principle reasons for the male-female wage gap.

9. Of the 10 leading causes of death in the United States, men
lead in all of them. Men dominate in stress-related diseases and
cancers, often because of their work and the dangerous substances
they are exposed to or breathe in. A woman is twice as likely to
live to age 85 than a man (U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services Vital Statistics of the United States and from the
"Information Please Almanac").

10. Over 80 percent of the AIDS sufferers in the United States
are male (U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census,
Statistical Abstract of the United States).

11. In family court, the most discriminatory institution in all
of the United States, men are routinely robbed of custody of their
children by sexist judges. This is despite the fact that a mother
is statistically twice as likely to murder her own son or daughter
than a father is.

Women also commit the vast amount of child endangerment and
child neglect. After the (losing) custody battle, men are then
saddled with punitive child support payments (not to mention
punitive ex-wives) which, remarkably, they usually pay. Ironically,
men are far better at meeting court-ordered child support
obligations than women are ("The Myth of Male Power" by Warren
Farrell, former New York City director of the National Organization
for Women).

Perhaps Hall will respond to my letter with a litany of famous
feminist statistics detailing female victimization. What readers
should know is that almost all of these studies and statistics –
from rigged and hideously misleading rape and domestic violence
surveys to the "rule of thumb," "Super Bowl/Abuse Bowl" and
"Wife-beating a major cause of birth defects" hoaxes to the
self-esteem studies and beyond – were blatant falsehoods pushed by
a group of feminist ideologues who succeeded (for awhile) in
hoodwinking the major media. Since then, many major newspapers and
magazines have (quietly and with great embarrassment) printed
retractions and have become a little more guarded about rushing
into print with sensationalized stories of female victimization.
These feminist lies and slanders have been thoroughly annihilated
by serious scholars and dissident feminists, the best example being
"Who Stole Feminism" by Christina Hoff Sommers.

Hall is correct in stating that women have and do continue to
suffer in this society. Where she is wrong (and this is typical of
the modern feminist) is that she self-centeredly focuses only on
female suffering while ignoring the reality of male suffering. Look
at both, Megan, and look at the bottom of society as well as the
top, and you’ll get a much better picture.

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