On May 18, 2002, the men of New Hampshire thought they’d finally got somewhere. Rep. David Bickford, among others, had worked five years to see HB 553 create a Commission on the Status of Men, the first on the continent. It was to address the suicide rate among men (at even young ages it is five times that of women’s), that average male mortality is 7 years before that of women’s, that boys’ far under-perform girls in reading and most scholastics and are less likely to go to and stay in college. It was also assigned the examination of cultural stereotyping of men. Even Harvard professor William Pollack calls school, “The most boy-unfriendly place on earth,” and who of us guys can’t say Amen to that. It’s about time just a few of men’s concerns finally got attention. Even most women agree. But there are ways to provide the appearance of equal treatment without providing it. Appointment of committee members is up to the governor and then governor Jeanne Shaheen was a feminist. She made no appointments for four months, and then her seven nominees included with any affinity with or knowledge of men’s issues. The most prominent nominee was Scott Hampton who had fought against the commission. "For me, to create a Commission on the Status of Men would be like creating a Commission on the Status of Wealthy People," said Mr. Hampton. Perhaps he’s speaking for himself. I’m not rich, are you? Perhaps he also thinks men made all the rules. I was never called to that vote. I don’t like the rules and never have, how did I make them? These are interesting generalizations one might call stereotypes, the very thing the House intended this commission to examine. Perhaps this is “balance.” I’m sure the Governor appoints a misogynist to New Hampshire’s Commission on the Status of Women. Unless I’m mistaken, assuming that Jews were all privileged is how some people once justified, not just ignoring their needs, but outright persecution. Projecting privilege onto those with none is a good first step toward abuse. At the very least it is a bias, even bigotry. That’s not all this nominee to the Commission on the Status of Men said. “Men don’t have a status problem,” but he believes women do, and it’s up to him as a man to help them out to the exclusion of other’s needs. It’s nice to see that chivalry is still alive. Or is it male chauvinism to think that women need men’s help but men don’t need women’s? I recall a time when women were offended by this condescending view, but that was when we called it Women’s Lib and subscribing to it decreased the votes you got. Today, subscribing to “helpless woman” is required to get any votes at all. One effect of the last three decades of feminist domination of social complaints is that the needs of others – blacks, the poor, children, and men – have been ignored. They are dismissed as unreal or inconsequential unless they parallel women’s. This can even become, for all intents and purposes, conspiratorial, certainly oppressive. Today, the only rule Mr. Hampton and Governor Shaheen seem to understand is, “The only thing that should have all of men’s attention, is women.” That sounds awfully like the stereotype of women before Women’s Liberation. Did becoming establishment make them reactionary, or did they become reactionary to become The Establishment? All this happened in 2002 and I don’t want to leave the impression that it was the end of this Commission. It is only representative of what such efforts face. Since 2002, Jeanne Shaheen was soundly defeated as governor, as much by women embarrassed by her as by men, and the Commission has been properly meeting. This warrants continued monitoring. ©2007 KC Wilson To nourish children and raise them against odds is in any time, any place, more valuable than to fix bolts in cars or design nuclear weapons. - Marilyn French
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