Media’s representation of gender issues misleading

Angelucci is a recent graduate of UCLA School of Law and is the
local chapter president of the National Coalition of Free Men.

By Marc Angelucci

In a recent editorial, the Daily Bruin used an incident from
last year of a white man attacking a black woman and yelling racial
slurs as an “example” of widespread acts of hate
against women on campus. (“UCLA needs motivated, progressive
students,” Daily Bruin, Viewpoint, May 26).

I am an attorney for people with mental disabilities and from
what I recall, the description of that incident revealed a high
likelihood that the man was mentally ill. I do not appreciate
seeing the campus newspaper exploit the mentally disabled just to
display their colors of political correctness and unfairly vilify
men.

Knowing that a Daily Bruin editorial requires a majority
approval from the editorial board before printing, the editorial
helped verify my belief that political filtering is the cause
(intended or unintended) of the Daily Bruin’s unbalanced
coverage of gender issues and lack of interest in double checking
what feminist groups have to say.

Take, for example, a recent News article that seems to repeat
without question the language of a report by the American
Association of University Women that Latinas are at a greater risk
of dropping out of high school than “any other group.”
(“Research finds challenge for
many latina students,” Daily Bruin, News, Feb. 5).

When I read that, I decided to double-check it. After all, most
data indicates that males are more likely than females within their
own race to become homeless, to get hurt or killed on the job, to
become incarcerated, to commit successful suicide (and probably
even failed suicides if it weren’t that men are less likely
to report them), etc.

So I jumped onto the internet and in no time discovered that the
Digest of Educational Statistics shows Hispanic males drop out more
than Hispanic females (http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2000/digest99/d99t109.html.).

I do not know whether the study defined “Hispanic”
to cover a larger or smaller category than “Latino”
covered in the AAUW data. But the alternative source still should
be given. Without it we are left feeling certain that Latinas drop
out more than Latinos.

When I called the Daily Bruin about this, they said that five
staff members reviewed the article before it printed and
interpreted “any other group” to mean “any other
group of women” because the article was about a study done by
the AAUW on women’s ethnic groups and toward the end compared
Latinas to other women.

If they say so. But the article also compares Latinas to
“African Americans” without mentioning sex. I see no
reason in the article to interpret “any other group” to
mean anything besides “any other group.”

If I wanted to say that Asian men get breast cancer more than
“any other group of men,” (hypothetically) but instead
I said Asian men get breast cancer more than “any other
group,” my bet is the editors would spot it instantly.

Indeed, not everybody interpreted “every other
group” the way the board did. For example, in a recent
Viewpoint article, Cindy Mosqueda’s comments on the same
editorial reflect an assumption that Latinas drop out more than
Latinos. She says, for example, “It is easy to blame a
patriarchal Latino culture for Latinas’ low educational
attainment…” (“Youth
need community support in education efforts,” Daily
Bruin, Viewpoint, April 30).

Mosqueda did not attack Latinas/os or express mean-spirited
allegations about patriarchy. But the reason for my quoting her is
that her comments demonstrate the way a rational reader (herself)
interprets “any other group.” Clearly, her reading of
the article led her to believe that Latinas drop out more than
Latinos, and she went on to blame patriarchal society for that.

How does it feel to be misled, Mosqueda? Don’t take it
personally. The media has covered gender issues this way for
decades. Even the L.A. Times reported this in a similar manner.
Feminist groups get a free ride while masculist (men’s
liberationist) groups get dismissed as “anti-women” or
“anti-feminist.”

I recently witnessed an extreme version of this bias during a
feminist panel at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. When a
man politely challenged the facts of the panelists, a feminist next
to him called him “pig” while both the panelists and
the crowd verbally bashed him.

I do not say all feminists are this way. But I also do not see
many feminists speaking out against it.

The Daily Bruin thankfully does not use this type of reactionary
labeling to suppress the views of masculist writers. But I must
still be honest about how I feel. People turn to the media for
balanced and unbiased coverage, and the Daily Bruin has not
provided that when it comes to gender issues.

In the News section of the Daily Bruin I have seen numerous
articles on women’s issues, but only two or three on
men’s issues. Although those two or three articles were a
sign of progress, they were nonetheless quite diluted. One of them,
for instance, addressed men’s health issues, but never
mentioned how federal funds favor women’s health research
over men’s health research by about a five to one ratio (and
pretty much always have).

Moreover, I have not seen the News section cover false
accusations of rape/harassment (which can be hate crimes and are
statistically more common than campus programs tell us), forced
draft registry, the lack of shelters and outreach for battered men,
discrimination against men in court, circumcision or the many other
issues that affect men and boys. One can visit www.mensactivism.org for an
excellent source of daily news on men’s issues.

Until the Daily Bruin becomes more open to men’s issues,
including the controversial ones, the campus will remain deprived
of meaningful and balanced dialogue on gender. I do believe this
will change, gradually. It is just a matter of when. A men’s
rights movement is brewing powerfully beneath the scenes ad will
eventually pierce the media’s “Lace Curtain” as
described in detail by bestselling author Warren Farrell.

Meanwhile, I urge students to double check what they hear about
gender from both feminists and masculists. Only this way will we
make progress and realize what we overlooked before. And, unlike
those who use labels to weasel out of a debate, always admit when
you’re wrong. That is why we have erasers on pencils.