Boys should be boys

There are many times I don’t agree with Dennis Prager, but I do consider him a great thinker. And I think he’s one of the few national media personalities on the forefront of the war against boys in today’s society. As a father of a four-year old, this is an  issue I am truly concerned with.

I graduated college almost 15 years ago. My school was about 60/40 female-to-male. As a happy, straight male, this was a great thing. But my freshman year, I noticed that the women’s crew, cross country and other teams were actively recruiting women to join the team — no experience necessary! Meanwhile, it was a dogfight to join any of the men’s teams. Despite the fact I played football and baseball in high school, there was no way I was fit to be on the same field as my college teams.

As the years progressed, I noticed some other things. Colleges around me were dropping men’s teams. Wrestling, baseball, swimming and diving, tennis….gone. That’s when I learned the lesson of unintended consequences. While Title IX proponents were praising the advances of women’s sports, men’s teams were getting cut left and right to meet the easiest standard, “proportionality.”

Title IX is a great thing for women’s sports. My college’s softball field was pathetic, and Title IX forced them to revamp it. But should women’s opportunities be expanded at the expense of men’s opportunities?

Unfortunately, many feminists say “yes.” And since this has been the trend of thinking and teaching for years, we are now reaping what we have sown.

Prager brings up a point that really got to me: Unless a boy plays a sport, most never see a male until dad (if he’s still around) comes home at night. Think about it: How many male day care providers are there? Heck, if there were, I bet most people would suspect him of being some sort of creep, or completely inept. How many male schoolteachers are out there? Fewer and fewer.

And because we have been taught that men and women are equal, and there are no differences between them, the school system is failing our boys. Increasingly, more and more boys are being prescribed Ritalin. While there are certainly cases of ADHD amongst kids, it’s almost a certainty that those kinds of drugs are over prescribed. With fewer and fewer schools having recess, it’s giving boys no chance to let off steam, instead keeping them sequestered in chairs all day — something that boys aren’t hard wired to do.

Fortunately, people are starting to get it. Christina Hoff Sommer’s “The War Against Boys” is a seminal work on the case. And now, “Boys Should Be Boys” by Meg Meeker gives us sound advice for us raising our kids in this culture. She argues that male values have been completely undermined. And male masculinity is degraded or brushed off. And she’s right.

In my father’s teenage years, shows like “Father Knows Best” or “Leave it to Beaver” or the many westerns out there helped mold what men are supposed to be — confident, smart, masculine role models. In my teens, the portayals of men became uber macho and violent (think “Rambo,” “Rocky” or “The Terminator”). Modern portrayals of men are nothing more than buffoonish cartoons (Homer Simpson or any Chris Farley character). Want proof? Just watch commercials. How many portray dad as lazy, stupid, or just an idiot.

What I find most interesting (and disturbing in a way) is that most, if not all of the research and criticism of this is done by women. I believe that most men have been taught to kowtow to the radical feminists. We can’t ever criticize something that empowers females, lest we be considered sexist. Yet women are free to poke fun at anything and everything men do, say or stand for and they get a “you go, girl!”

Cynthia Good can (allegedly) vandalize a “Men Working” sign and she gets praised. Bring up the fact that her magazine can be considered anti-male? You’re a sexist pig.

It’s time for men to stand up and be counted. It’s not in our nature to band together in some show of brotherhood. So I say we do it the way our dads and grandfathers did. Let’s be the type of men we want our sons to be. Let’s be great role models. Take a couple hours for lunch and meet your kid at elementary school or daycare. I’ve done it before and you’d be amazed — kids are starving for male attention. Let’s start concentrating on the little things that really add up.

I

AJC job cuts

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the latest newspaper to announce job cuts. On Wednesday, they announced that 189 jobs — 85 of them in the newsroom. In addition, some bureaus are closing and special sections will be eliminated.

As a member of the media myself, I hate to see my colleagues out of work. But it’s a sign of the times. Thanks to the Internet, blogs and news sites are making it easier to get news customized for your needs and tastes. For example, as a transplanted Seattleite, I can get news from Washington state, Mariners scores and even my high school’s football scores in a matter of seconds.

I had a feeling the AJC was in trouble when I subscribed. I just wanted the Sunday paper, but it was actually cheaper to get it seven days a week. It was obvious they wanted their subscriber rates up for advertisements. And when fewer and fewer people are reading the paper, what company wants to advertise in it?

Is it a sign of the times? Sure. And yeah, I’m sure the economy and gas prices have something to do with it. But it’s also a tried and true business fact: If you’re not providing the product your audience wants, you’re not going to succeed.

I’m sure the editors and leaders of the AJC don’t want to hear it, but Georgia — even the Atlanta area — is conservative. So why is there only one conservative on the editorial staff?

I’m not privy to their meetings, but I’m just putting a bug in their ears. Maybe taking a hard look at their news coverage and making those hard decisions may not be popular with their friends, but it may just make the AJC relevant again.

Laura Ingraham “Unhinged”?

A friend of mine pointed me to this post at Harry Shearer’s blog. If you haven’t seen it, it’s tape of conservative talk show host Laura Ingraham that was rolled before taping of her Fox News show.

Apparently, Harry Shearer thinks it’s funny because Ingraham is being “a bitch.” Apparently, Harry Shearer hasn’t spent time on a TV news set.

Look, I’m no Edward R. Murrow or Walter Cronkite. My on-air TV experience was in small markets, where chaos often reigns supreme. But from my experience, it’s par for the course.

News, like sausage, is really something you don’t want to see made. Controlled (sometimes uncontrolled) chaos reigns supreme. In the newsroom, starting about two hours before air-time, things start getting hectic. Reporters come back from their stories, they’re cranking out a script, getting it approved and tracked so the videographers can put it all together. Producers are scrambling to fill their shows. Associate producers are getting scripts ready and the studio crew is getting the lighting and set ready. News anchors are looking over scripts and getting their “face on.”

When so many people are involved under tight deadlines, stuff happens. I’ve seen verbal spats that spill out into the hallways, I’ve even seen fistfights. I’ve had producers scream in my ear and videographers using spit and duct tape to get live shots up. Like I said, it often isn’t pretty.

And in the end, mistakes are made. Cameras aren’t set, scripts don’t match the video, equipment malfunctions…you name it, it happens. It’s the anchors job to make sure the viewer doesn’t notice them.

Yes, anchors can be a pain in the butt. I was one once. But let’s be honest — they’re the face of the news at that time. And if an AP messes up, or an audio person cuts a mike (or leaves it on, right Jesse?) or the prompter operator falls asleep, the anchor gets the blame. It’s why they’re paid so much money (not in my case, but what can you expect in small market TV?). And it’s why we tend to be a little ticked off when things aren’t going right.

In Laura’s case, it seemed like she was trying to maintain composure through the chaos. When you start a new show with a new crew like that, the craziness can be exponentially bad. She didn’t blow up like Bill O’Reilly, she didn’t curse, she didn’t really get out of line.

The Radio Equalizer said she looked uncomfortable up there, and perhaps she’s not ready for prime time. I somewhat agree, despite the common misperception that anchoring is easy, it does take a while to learn to deal with the lights, the prompter, and the general distractions that take place behind the camera. For example, the “Mexican man” she saw in the prompter was just a feed, and can be switched with no problem. Still, to me this looks like a team effort more than just her.

She was being confident and was taking charge, like any good leader should do. And female anchors in the business do have to deal with stereotypes and be somewhat of a pain sometimes, lest they be stepped on by the other members of the team.

If Harry Shearer and the rest of the liberal numbskulls don’t get that, they need to face reality. Besides, aren’t they the ones who complain that if a man stands up for himself and takes charge, he’s a leader, but if a woman does it, she’s a bitch?

Apparently, those rules only apply if the left agrees with what the woman is saying at the time.

Josh Hamilton, redux

Was listening to Colin Cowherd on ESPN radio the other day. And he brought up an interesting take on Josh Hamilton. To paraphrase, Cowherd puts Hamilton’s success on a different level than others who have come back from adversity, because his struggles were self-inflicted.

I get where he’s coming from. Back in the ’80s, Dave Dravecky came back from cancer. Lance Armstrong’s comeback was also from the dreaded c. Both were things they had no control over — afflictions that came through a medical condition.

Josh Hamilton came back from heroin addiction. Cowherd (I’m sure playing radio a bit, like he’s wont to do) didn’t think that was entirely worthy of the praise and adulation given to him during the all-star game.

I’ve never done drugs in my life. Nothing more than a little (ok, a lot) of underage drinking in college. My addiction was alcohol for a while before it switched to food. And I’m trying to recover from that. Fortunately, my addictions are socially acceptable, so I never had to endure the stigma of being a drug addict…just a fat guy (which carries its own problems).

My addictions were (and are) a sign of weakness. I compensated for my low self-esteem by drinking and eating too much. I’m sure Josh Hamilton’s addictions were masking the same for him.

Imagine for a second you’re in his shoes. An 18-year old kid from North Carolina, a “5 tool player” that people are hyping as the next Ken Griffey Jr. or A-Rod. The next superstar, taken as the #1 draft pick and given millions of dollars by the Tampa Bay (at the time) Devil Rays to be their superstar, their savior, the guy they want on billboards, commercials and on magazines. That’s a whole lot of responsibility for a young man…not to mention a whole wad of cash to spend on whatever he wants.

But I’m sure there was a lot of self-doubt going on, and a sense of having too much too soon. Unfortunately, Hamilton apparently was taken in with the culture and paid the price for it. He was fortunate. Most people can’t kick H and wind up spending the rest of their lives chasing the dragon, doing anything for their next hit. And I’m sure he struggles with those demons daily. He says that finding Jesus was the answer, and as a fellow Christian, I’m incredibly happy that he has done so.

I just hope that he’s also dealt with the underlying factors that got him there in the first place. I’m no shrink, and I have no idea what that is. But as this (still young) man progresses and starts becoming the star people thought he was, I’m afraid those demons will come back.

So while I agree with Cowherd – his setback was of entirely his own making – I also think that he’s going to have to struggle more mentally than others who fought debilitating diseases. I just pray that he makes it.