WARREN FARRELL: Trump won because Democrats keep telling young men they’re dangerous and don’t matter.
I recall interviewing a young man from Mill Valley, California, a city with deep Democratic Party ties. As the interview concluded, he broke down, “I wish I hadn’t been born male.”
I knew why: He had already shared: “In public schools and even in the private all-male school I attend, all we hear is ‘The future is female.’ That doesn’t inspire me for my future. As for masculinity, it’s ‘toxic masculinity.’ Then we are told we’re part of the patriarchy that makes rules to benefit men at the expense of women. The conclusion is that ‘Men are the oppressors; women are the oppressed.’ I can’t help being who I am.” When I asked him who he talks with about this, he said, “My guy friends. They feel the same. But I’d never tell my girlfriend. She’s a feminist. She’d break up with me.”
On a spring break, I encountered seven guys reuniting at Starbucks. Though attending different colleges, they all nodded as one guy complained, “If I take a sexual initiative too quickly, I’m labeled a sexual harasser. But if I ask permission to hold her hand, she looks at me like I’m a wimp.” One concurred, “I feel ‘Damned if I do; damned if I don’t. … if they’re so into equality, why don’t they take the sexual initiatives and risk the rejection?”
Once they felt comfortable, stories poured out. One recalled, “My best friend and a girl both got drunk at a fraternity party. They had consensual sex, but she had a boyfriend who found out, and she accused my friend of date rape ‘because she was drunk.’ Well, he was drunk too! A committee heard the case, but he couldn’t even cross-examine her. He was expelled, his record tainted for life.” Their voices dropped. “It’s all #MeToo for women and #ShutUp for men.” One concluded, “College is a dangerous place for men.”
Plus: “Among working men, the feeling of having ‘the cards stacked against me’ is directed at human resources. ‘If I tease a man, no problem; if I tease a woman, I’ll be reported to HR. HR doesn’t ‘get it’ that guys tease people we respect, so if I only tease guys I’m really discriminating against women.’ In essence, they feel that HR is actually HeR.”
Yep. Helen’s interviewing men for her next book and hearing similar things. But now they’re fighting back.
And the tyranny of HR is itself a product of federal government policy.