The prejudice we face.

[Marta]

haha! I live for the day....

It is weird, is it not, that people who's mantra is "The only good hike is a slow hike" continue to read and post in a forum whose very existence is abhorrent to them?

This is the story of the internet: You can't keep a good hater down!

[takethisbread]

It is weird, is it not, that people who's mantra is "The only good hike is a slow hike" continue to read and post in a forum whose very existence is abhorrent to them?This is the story of the internet: You can't keep a good hater down!

I thought the story of the Internet is having a place for everyone to claim victim status?

[Cookerhiker]

... Men are not banned from this forum, but dick-swinging behavior is not normally tolerated here.

Or as one of the mods put it not long ago: "You're welcome to participate but check your testoserone at the door"

I thought the story of the Internet is having a place for everyone to claim victim status?

That long pre-dates the internet.

[Alligator]

Hopefully readers can return to the thread topic. Toli's participation in the thread has been concluded.

[atmilkman]

Quote from this thread. http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/show...ry-Start/page3



THIS is the kind of attitude that keeps girls from wanting to take part in outdoor activities like hiking. THIS is why there is a whole thread about "where are all the girls?" THIS is the kind of attitude I expect from someone who has never been hiking, and never raised a daughter. It makes me sad that there are wonderful, athletic, adventurous girls who will be shuffled into "girl sports" and "safer" sports because of people like this.

I think that most ladies would agree that they have never been in a situation where they felt in danger on the trail because of their gender. And if we do I think it can be handled just as you would handle it in "civilization."

So how do we get young women out on the trail in the face of attitudes like this?

I think one example of an answer to your question of how do we (meaning women I assume) get young women out on the trail in the face of attitudes like a young female hiking alone where she does not have the protection of a group is simply asking for trouble is by doing exactly what you have done already. Posing the question to other women on a forum like this and let them share their experience of hiking alone, direct them (the potential new hiker) to this and let them read what they have to say and maybe that would help quell any inhibition that might be stopping them. Good thread. Show someone.

[MissMagnolia]

I think a whole lot of people here are misreading concern and some worry as a desire to control. Parents are rightfully concerned for their children's welfare, even when those children become young adults. It has very little to do with control. We want our children to take control of their own lives, to be successful at what they choose, to live their own lives. What we don't want is for them to get seriously hurt while learning how to do that. It has to do with love - not a desire to control.

Young adults are certainly free to make their own decisions with or without their parent's approval. Does that mean 18, 19, 20 . . . year olds don't make really bad decisions at times? That is why parents of young adults are concerned, and yes, why they worry at times and try to prevent their adult children from making bad decisions. That isn't to say older adults don't make bad decisions as well. We all do. The difference is that we've learned a bit more about the world along the way.

The young lady who gave rise to several threads on this subject has already made a few bad decisions (and I don't think winter hiking is necessarily the worst of them): posting under her real name, stating her intent to hike alone especially at a time of year with few other hikers around, revealing her approximate itinerary / start date, etc. Given other info available online it is way too easy to obtain other personal info about her, such as her age, address, height, hair color, photos, etc. At some point, given the history of her posts, she is likely to post here or elsewhere more details about her travel plans, start date, etc.

Many of you may not think much about personal security. Many may think that the few bad things that happen in life are just bad luck and completely out of our control. But our own decisions play greatly into the risks we face and how we manage them. Whether people like to admit it or not, or simply dismiss the risk as "statistically small" or "acceptable", there are bad people out there, and they read message boards too. So when some of us see someone painting a target on themselves, no matter that that target may be small in the scope of things and that nothing is likely to happen, we still speak up.

I think your comments about personal security and the internet are right on. I myself may have overstated some things about my thru-hike while still trying to be circumspect. However, I plan to use a different trail-name, one that never appears on this thread or the internet until it's too late to be tracked back to me and I haven't set a firm departure date or city. I won't be posting updates live from the trail saying where I am or my destinations. I'm also reading a couple of books I highly recommend. One is "Fight Like a Girl...and Win" by Lori Hartman Gervasi. Another is "The Gift of Fear" by Gavin DeBecker. Another is "Facing Violence: Preparing for the Unexpected" by Jim Harmer. This is part of my preparation for a solo thru-hike as a female.

It is true that women are more likely to be attacked then men are, and that men are nearly always the culprits. It's also true, from my experience and what I've been reading, that being aware of your environment and the people/animals in it, and vigorously defending your personal space (by running/leaving/yelling if possible) will help a woman or man avoid many unpleasant situations before they even start. Another key is for women to forget all that socially nice stuff we're trained into and be willing to be rude and loudly tell somebody to BACK OFF! This works better if there are witnesses, obviously, or a safer place to run to.

Based on what I've been reading so far, the risk of being harmed by men you know is MUCH higher than by a stranger, in normal society. But, on the trail??? I don't know. I just know I will prepare my mind and body as much as possible and try to be very aware of escape routes and where people are around me (to avoid them or to approach them for safety).

I read "Becoming Odyssa" and I just wanted to tell her to yell at him, to not let him sign the register for her, to join a group for a while and tell them how he bothered her. In the the end she ditched her stalker, but she let it go on way too long. I think youth and inexperience could have contributed to her unwillingness to tell him off, but women in our culture are trained to be nice at all costs and age doesn't necessarily make a woman more likely to reject that training, even to protect her safety.

Thanks for a very interesting thread. Oh, and I almost always hike alone, but I leave an itinerary and pre-arrange a check-in time that if I haven't checked in by then means call for help. I read that in the book "98.6 Degrees, The Art of Keeping Your Ass Alive" by Cody Lundgren. I'm actually trying to figure out the best way to keep up this practice while hiking the AT. I figure I could at least arrange to check in at a shelter with a group I trust for the evening and if I don't show, they know something's wrong....but I also know things change and I wouldn't want a false alert going out just because I took a nap or weather came up and I am running late. Any suggestions on a good way to do this on the AT?

Thanks!

[modiyooch]

So, the whole point of being a parent is to worry?? When does it end? Maybe our worries are our own problem, and have nothing to do with their lives in the least. I was raised by two professional Worriers. After I turned 18 they worried. After I turned 21 they worried. Now, upon reflection, I see all their worry as a sort of selfish attachment, a couple degrees away from Control.

I give my Mother alot of credit. Although she did worry, she did not interfere. She drove me to the trail and let me walk away. It would have been an injustice to me otherwise.

[Sierra Echo]

Yall keep talking about young women. What about older women. Take Grandma Gatewood for instance. How many on here would have discouraged her thru hiking alone?

[Tipi Walter]

Yall keep talking about young women. What about older women. Take Grandma Gatewood for instance. How many on here would have discouraged her thru hiking alone?

Or Dorothy Laker.

[SassyWindsor]

"He is bad that will not take advice, but he is a thousand times worse that takes every advice"

[10-K]

Or Dorothy Laker.

Dorothy Laker's stories in the 2 volume set "Hiking the Appalachian Trail" are by far my favorite. She was really an amazing hiker.

I enjoyed her accounts better than Earl S's.

[MedicineWoman2012]

I appreciate the encouragement all of you have given! I am a 39yo mom of a 9yo boy that lives to set up his next shelter along the white blazes. I would like to say the trail has taught him so much about self reliance and respecting mother nature. He may forget all of the wonderful gifts he gets from his friends or family on holidays but he will never forget witnessing a mother and her cubs settling in for the evening in their den or meeting the biggest electrical storm after setting up shelter just past a Gregorys Bald. I owe alot of thanks to the folks her on WB for all of their insight and years of making it magical for women and men of all ages. I can truly say he would perfer to goto the AT for a section hike than a summer vacation at Disney World! Thats hands down..makes me very proud of him and the skills have learned thru years of hiking with him in my back pack (began it at 6mths old when he could barely talk or sit up on day hikes). I have yet to experience an encounter in the woods that I couldnt handle better than in the city. As a medic in a high crime area (Durham, NC) I can honestly say its much safer with him on the AT

[MedicineWoman2012]

Ooops...forgot to mention we go at it alone but we do not announce our where abouts to everyone thru out the hike or prior.

[Red Beard]

I think your comments about personal security and the internet are right on. I myself may have overstated some things about my thru-hike while still trying to be circumspect. However, I plan to use a different trail-name, one that never appears on this thread or the internet until it's too late to be tracked back to me and I haven't set a firm departure date or city. I won't be posting updates live from the trail saying where I am or my destinations. I'm also reading a couple of books I highly recommend. One is "Fight Like a Girl...and Win" by Lori Hartman Gervasi. Another is "The Gift of Fear" by Gavin DeBecker. Another is "Facing Violence: Preparing for the Unexpected" by Jim Harmer. This is part of my preparation for a solo thru-hike as a female.

It is true that women are more likely to be attacked then men are, and that men are nearly always the culprits. It's also true, from my experience and what I've been reading, that being aware of your environment and the people/animals in it, and vigorously defending your personal space (by running/leaving/yelling if possible) will help a woman or man avoid many unpleasant situations before they even start. Another key is for women to forget all that socially nice stuff we're trained into and be willing to be rude and loudly tell somebody to BACK OFF! This works better if there are witnesses, obviously, or a safer place to run to.

Based on what I've been reading so far, the risk of being harmed by men you know is MUCH higher than by a stranger, in normal society. But, on the trail??? I don't know. I just know I will prepare my mind and body as much as possible and try to be very aware of escape routes and where people are around me (to avoid them or to approach them for safety).

I read "Becoming Odyssa" and I just wanted to tell her to yell at him, to not let him sign the register for her, to join a group for a while and tell them how he bothered her. In the the end she ditched her stalker, but she let it go on way too long. I think youth and inexperience could have contributed to her unwillingness to tell him off, but women in our culture are trained to be nice at all costs and age doesn't necessarily make a woman more likely to reject that training, even to protect her safety.

Thanks for a very interesting thread. Oh, and I almost always hike alone, but I leave an itinerary and pre-arrange a check-in time that if I haven't checked in by then means call for help. I read that in the book "98.6 Degrees, The Art of Keeping Your Ass Alive" by Cody Lundgren. I'm actually trying to figure out the best way to keep up this practice while hiking the AT. I figure I could at least arrange to check in at a shelter with a group I trust for the evening and if I don't show, they know something's wrong....but I also know things change and I wouldn't want a false alert going out just because I took a nap or weather came up and I am running late. Any suggestions on a good way to do this on the AT?

Thanks!

It is not true that women are more likely to be attacked. I sincerely wish the PC crowd would wake-up and actually read actual published statistics, before trying to spread fear, uncertainty and doubt. That fact remains that more men than women are attacked and killed in violent crimes each year. Yet, the PC crowd wants to ignore it and continues to spout FUD.

[MissMagnolia]

It is not true that women are more likely to be attacked. I sincerely wish the PC crowd would wake-up and actually read actual published statistics, before trying to spread fear, uncertainty and doubt. That fact remains that more men than women are attacked and killed in violent crimes each year. Yet, the PC crowd wants to ignore it and continues to spout FUD.

I'm sorry, I don't know what FUD means, and suddenly I'm in a PC crowd for saying something I read in a book about violence towards women and how to prevent it? I'm not trying to spread fear, uncertainty or doubt. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only woman who is concerned about my personal safety. For any of those women or men who want to be more aware and have a little more say over their own personal safety, I highly recommend those books. Whether there are other statistics, I don't know, but it's not PC, it's only resonable to take steps to try to ensure my personal safety, and I think that applies to anybody, but discounting the safety concerns that women in particular have is not helpful. Now that I'm more aware of safety steps I can take I have fewer fears, uncertainty and doubt and can better enjoy my hike, which is my goal.

[MissMagnolia]

It is not true that women are more likely to be attacked. I sincerely wish the PC crowd would wake-up and actually read actual published statistics, before trying to spread fear, uncertainty and doubt. That fact remains that more men than women are attacked and killed in violent crimes each year. Yet, the PC crowd wants to ignore it and continues to spout FUD.

Red Beard, I assume you're a man? I believe that until we face reality and know what we're up against, we can't deal with it, fix it, or prevent it. That is the reason I'm going to put these numbers up. This is not to spread fear, but there is a reason for women in particular to know what they're up against so they can be prepared. This is in normal life and has nothing to do with a hiking trail, so the information and suggestions are useful to all women, everywhere, even those who would never want to hike, but not specific to women hiking solo or in groups.

Here we go. Even if men are more likely to be attacked and killed, here are the stats about women as of 2007. There IS a problem of violence towards women by men. Most acts of aggression towards men or women are done by men.


1 in 12 women are stalked in their lifetime. That's even higher for college women.

The FBI states there is a forcible rape every five minutes.

1 in 6 American women has either been raped or it was attempted, with an estimate that 1 in 4 women will be raped over their lifetime.

73% of rape and sexual assault attacks on women were by non-strangers.

85% of rape and sexual assaults were by unarmed attackers.

So, maybe women don't die more then men, but there are certainly good reasons for a woman to be alert, aware, educated about the risks and also about ways to mitigate the risks. I think if women and parents of young women were to be prepared ahead of time and learn what's in these books along with taking self defense classes that they can lower the risks for themselves or their daughters and enjoy a safer hike and life in general, with LESS fear. Ignoring the reality doesn't make you safer, and stating reality isn't PC. But the reality is NO REASON for women to cower away and not participate in life, you just have to know what you're up against and be prepared for if it ever does happen to you. And, BTW, the stuff I read about in these books about being aware of your environment could just as easily save your life from an animal attack, terrorist attack and maybe even natural disasters, so I for one am very glad to have read these books.

Okay, off soapbox now.

[Red Beard]

Again, more FUD. 1 in 6 women raped, is complete bull****. It's a made-up number from NOW (National Organization for Women). Seriously, can you find a source for it? Also, where's your source for a "forcible" rape every 5 minutes? What exactly does that mean, anyway? Is it women only, are we talking about men in prison, are these women in the US, or is it in fact women in African nations? Additionally, what constitutes as "rape's" definition is being broadened to include things such as both people go out and have 1 drink, get sexually intimate, the woman regrets it in the morning. Under the new definition for rape, if the woman regrets it, that's now rape.

I can't believe I'm actually having to deal with this crap on WB. It used to be that I could go into the woods, or log on to WB and not have to deal with this ****. Now it's WOMEN ARE VICTIMS everywhere 24x7. I'm done with WB.

Red Beard, I assume you're a man? I believe that until we face reality and know what we're up against, we can't deal with it, fix it, or prevent it. That is the reason I'm going to put these numbers up. This is not to spread fear, but there is a reason for women in particular to know what they're up against so they can be prepared. This is in normal life and has nothing to do with a hiking trail, so the information and suggestions are useful to all women, everywhere, even those who would never want to hike, but not specific to women hiking solo or in groups.

Here we go. Even if men are more likely to be attacked and killed, here are the stats about women as of 2007. There IS a problem of violence towards women by men. Most acts of aggression towards men or women are done by men.


1 in 12 women are stalked in their lifetime. That's even higher for college women.

The FBI states there is a forcible rape every five minutes.

1 in 6 American women has either been raped or it was attempted, with an estimate that 1 in 4 women will be raped over their lifetime.

73% of rape and sexual assault attacks on women were by non-strangers.

85% of rape and sexual assaults were by unarmed attackers.

So, maybe women don't die more then men, but there are certainly good reasons for a woman to be alert, aware, educated about the risks and also about ways to mitigate the risks. I think if women and parents of young women were to be prepared ahead of time and learn what's in these books along with taking self defense classes that they can lower the risks for themselves or their daughters and enjoy a safer hike and life in general, with LESS fear. Ignoring the reality doesn't make you safer, and stating reality isn't PC. But the reality is NO REASON for women to cower away and not participate in life, you just have to know what you're up against and be prepared for if it ever does happen to you. And, BTW, the stuff I read about in these books about being aware of your environment could just as easily save your life from an animal attack, terrorist attack and maybe even natural disasters, so I for one am very glad to have read these books.

Okay, off soapbox now.

[Red Beard]

Get your facts straight!

99.999% of American combat deaths and casualties (historically)
http://thewall-usa.com/information.asp
http://thewall-usa.com/women.asp
http://www.cwc.lsu.edu/other/stats/warcost.htm
97%+ since the 1st Gulf War (DOD)
http://www.icasualties.org/oif/female.aspx
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/casualty.pdf
http://www.cwc.lsu.edu/other/stats/warcost.htm
“The numbers of wounded women and female amputees, meanwhile, are considerably less than their male counterparts–at least 378 wounded versus 17,490; 11 amputees versus over 400–but they are historic for modern day warfare.”
http://www.womensenews.org/article.c...ontext/archive
A Pentagon study published in March on the mental health of soldiers returning from deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan found that more than one- third of U.S. soldiers received psychological counseling. A statistic buried in the study: 23.6 percent of women reported a mental health concern compared with 18.6 percent of men.
http://www.womensenews.org/article.c...ontext/archive
(currently, women are not even required by law to register for selective service, but even mentally challenged and physically disabled men are, in addition to all the healthy ones)
Men are 94% of industrial deaths and accident (NIOSH)
Even though murder is the leading workplace cause of death for women, a statistic often used by gender feminists, that number is only a percentage of the 6% of workplace deaths that women comprise. In other words, a fraction of a small fraction.
One example:
Between 1890 and 1917, two hundred thirty thousand (230,000) [male] railroad workers were killed. One of the most dangerous jobs was “brakeman.” Each car had to be stopped manually and it was the brakeman’s job to stop four or five cars. The brakeman walked on top of the RR cars and turned a wheel, putting the brakes “on” for each car. It was not unheard of for a brakeman to be thrown from the top of a RR car.
Source: Freight Trains, Modern Marvels, The History Channel, 2006
Men are:

• 76% of homicide victims – DOJ

• 80% of Suicide victims – CDC

# Suicide took the lives of 30,622 people in 2001 (CDC 2004).
# Suicide is the eighth leading cause of death for all U.S. men (Anderson and Smith 2003).
# 24,672 suicide deaths reported among men in 2001.
http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/suifacts.htm
24,672 / 30,622 = .8056952
In other words, over 80% of all suicide deaths in 2001 were male.
also:
“Suicide ranks 11th among causes of death in the US, with 30,622 completed suicides in 2001. It is the 3rd leading cause of death among people 15 to 24 yr. Men ≥ 75 yr have the highest rate of death by suicide. Among all age groups, male deaths by suicide outnumber female deaths by 4:1.”
Source: http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec15/ch205/ch205a.html
“The other most common suicide victims are divorced and/or estranged fathers like Derrick Miller. In fact, a divorced father is ten times more likely to commit suicide than a divorced mother, and three times more likely to commit suicide than a married father.
Source: http://www.glennsacks.com/distraught...courthouse.htm
Men are the overwhelming majority of rape victims.
Male rape has been called “The most closely guarded secret of American prisons.” (Weiss and Friar 1974)
There are estimated to be over 300,000 male rapes per year in American prisons and jails.
Meanwhile A United Nations statistical report compiled from government sources showed that more than 250,000 cases of male-female rape or attempted rape were recorded by police annually. The reported data covered 65 countries.
According to the 2009 United States National Crime Victimization Survey estimates, only 55% of rapes and sexual assaults were reported to law enforcement officials. When a male is raped, less than 10% are believed to be reported. Female-male and female-female rape are ignored altogether in this survey.
Other facts regarding men and rape:
* 2.1% of men reported forced vaginal sex compared to 1.6% of women in a relationship in the previous year. From: Predictors of Sexual Coersion.http://pubpages.unh.edu/~mas2/ID45-PR45.pdf
*94% of sexually abused youth in correctional facilities reported being abused by female staff. From: Sexual Victimization in Juvenile Facilities, 2008-09.http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/svjfry09.pdf
* Among inmates reporting staff sexual misconduct, ~ 65% reported a female aggressor. From: Sexual Victimization in Prisons and Jails Reported by Inmates, 2008-09. http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/svpjri0809.pdf
* 50% of homeless youth reported being sexually abused by a female. From: It’s Not What You Think: Sexually Exploited Youth in British Columbia.http://www.nursing.ubc.ca/PDFs/ItsNotWhatYouThink.pdf
A woman is the party filing for divorce in about 66% of divorce cases.
“How often was it that many more of women wanted the divorce more than the men?
2/3. The same as the amount responsible for divorce filings. And yet another study of divorced couples found that the majority of divorced wives and husbands both agreed it was the wife who wanted out.”
Source: http://www.pobronson.com/blog/2006/07/will-this-marriage-last-who-wants-out.html
Women receive custody in about 84% of child custody cases.
In the spring of 2002, an estimated 13.4 million parents had custody of 21.5 million children under 21 years of age whose other parent lived somewhere else. About 5 of every 6 custodial parents were mothers (84.4 percent) and 1in 6 were fathers (15.6 percent), proportions statistically unchanged since 1994
(Table A).
http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/p60-225.pdf
According to Los Angeles divorce consultant Jayne Major:
“Divorced men are often devastated by the loss of their children. It’s a little known fact that in the United States men initiate only a small number of the divorces involving children. Most of the men I deal with never saw their divorces coming, and they are often treated very unfairly by the family courts.’”
Paternity fraud is rampant in the U.S.
30% of those named as fathers who test for paternity find they are not the biological father.
Source: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=48871xo
Not only is all this imbalance around marriage and children unfair to men, we must also consider that the damaged inflicted on fatherless children is staggering:

• 63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes (US Dept. Of Health/Census) – 5 times the average.

• 90% of all homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes – 32 times the average.

• 85% of all children who show behavior disorders come from fatherless homes – 20 times the average. (Center for Disease Control)

• 80% of rapists with anger problems come from fatherless homes –14 times the average. (Justice & Behavior, Vol 14, p. 403-26)

• 71% of all high school dropouts come from fatherless homes – 9 times the average. (National Principals Association Report)

• 75% of all adolescent patients in chemical abuse centers come from fatherless homes – 10 times the average. (Rainbows for All God’s Children)

• 70% of youths in state-operated institutions come from fatherless homes – 9 times the average. (U.S. Dept. of Justice, Sept. 1988)

• 85% of all youths in prison come from fatherless homes – 20 times the average. (Fulton Co. Georgia, Texas Dept. of Correction)

Source: http://fallenfathers.blogspot.com/20...tatistics.html
Of the top fifteen leading causes of death, men lead in 12 categories, are tied in two and trail in one. Even though more women die of heart disease each year, men die of heart disease many years earlier.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/...s03_tables.pdf
http://www.sentencingproject.org/Adm...outprisons.pdf
There is blatant anti-male discrimination in the criminal justice system and the sentencing disparity between men and women exceeds that between whites and any other minority.
http://ncfm.org/2011/04/issues/criminal-sentencing/
Avg sentences for crime by gender:
Female – 18.51 months
Male – 51.52 months
http://www.terry.uga.edu/~mustard/sentencing.pdf
“Judge bashes Probation Department for gender bias in favor of leniency for girls”
http://articles.nydailynews.com/2010...ion-department

The 2006 United States’ rate of incarceration of 751 inmates per 100,000 population is the highest reported rate in the world, well ahead of the Russian rate of 628 per 100,000.
93% of the prison population is male with over 60% having no High School education. America has now passed Russia as the country that has the largest percentage of its population incarcerated, yet we still claim to be the freest country on earth.
The number of persons on probation and parole has been growing dramatically along with institutional populations. There are now 7.2 million Americans incarcerated or on probation or parole, an increase of more than 290 percent since 1980.
http://www.sentencingproject.org/
The problem of sentencing disparities is compounded by an epidemic of false accusations:
205 (and growing) wrongly convicted people have been exonerated by DNA evidence since the beginning of the Innocence Project.
204 of the wrongly convicted were men.
Most of them were falsely imprisoned for rape.
http://www.innocenceproject.org/
As we saw in the Duke Lacrosse rape case fiasco, false accusers are rarely prosecuted and when they are it is only as a misdemeanor (at most), while rape itself is vigorously prosecuted as a felony. The Duke false accuser, Crystal Gayle Mangum went on to commit assault, arson and finally murder before authorities made a good faith intervention.
One attorney speaking at premiere for the movie, After Innocence, estimates that there are between 20,000 and 100,000 wrongly convicted still in prison.
Valid research puts the estimated false rape reporting rate at 41%
Source: http://falserapesociety.blogspot.com...pe-claims.html
Capital Punishment Targets Men Almost Exclusively
Since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, there have been over 1,200 executions in the United States. Eleven of them, or less than 1%, were women. This stands in stark contrast considering women commit, by DOJ estimates, 10% of all murders, are involved in 35% of all domestic homicides (are involved often means they get other people to kill for them) and nearly 30% of murders where the victim was another family member.
We hear a lot about the historical oppression of women’s voting rights, but few if any women who were born in the 20th century were every without the right to vote in their lifetime, upon reaching legal voting age. On the other hand, around 2400 hundred California men (42% of CA men killed in Vietnam) gave their life for their country without being allowed by their country to vote. The exact number is 2,381. Four of the twelve Iwo Jimo flag raisers died for their country without their country ever allowing them the right to vote.
http://www.mensnewsdaily.com/archive...orst052805.htm
http://www.thewall-usa.com/names.asp
“The youngest Vietnam KIA is believed to be Dan Bullock USMC, at 15 years old.
At least 5 men killed in Vietnam were 16 years old.
At least 12 men killed in Vietnam were 17 years old.
There are 120 persons who listed foreign countries as their home of record.
At least 25,000 of those killed were 20 years old or younger.
The oldest man killed was 62 years old.”
If you do a full count on all the men in the 20th century who died for their country without being allowed to vote the numbers will be staggering.
In America there are over 270 women’s commissions, but only one for men in New Hampshire.
There are over 700 Women’s Studies programs on colleges and universities throughout the United States teaching thousands or tens of thousands of classes from the gender feminist perspective, but not one program or class, teaching men’s studies from the masculist perspective.
Men are more than a third of the victims of domestic violence (26% of intimate partner homicides), yet are denied service at most tax payer funded domestic violence shelters.
In contrast, women get every veteran’s benefit a man does, yet comprise less than 3% of combat deaths or casualties and a woman makes the cover of Time magazine (person of the year/2003 standing in front of two men.
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Dec2003/200312225a.jpg
CDC lists male victims of domestic violence at more than 34%, but men injured in Iraq (and all other men) are by law in California excluded from domestic violence shelter services. Only one shelter in Lancaster, CA accepts men and it has been extensively harassed for doing so.
Men are subject to extreme discrimination in healthcare.
Men today die on average 6 years sooner than women. In 1920 the variance was one year. The death rates for prostate and breast cancer are similar, but because men die of other things more frequently-accidents ,war, heart disease etc., there are fewer men left to die of prostate cancer. This is akin to saying people from a nation like Zimbabwe are immune to Alzheimer’s- but in fact they die of other things before they can get old enough to contract Alzheimer’s.
To date, there are numerous federal offices on women’s health, and not a single one for men. Also, the lion’s share of gender specific medical research is done on behalf of women.
The wage gap myth based on the “comparable worth” paradigm:
http://mensnewsdaily.com/2007/04/23/...-growing-legs/
http://mensnewsdaily.com/2007/04/23/...-legs-part-ii/
While men make more money than women on average, women control and spend vastly more money than men.
http://www.amazon.com/Pocketbook-Pow...e=UTF8&s=books
or
http://tinyurl.com/sf342
Pocketbook Power: How to Reach the Hearts and Minds of Today’s Most Coveted Consumer – Women
Bernice Kanner
From the Back Cover
Women as an economically disadvantaged group is a myth that negatively affects men.
Not too long ago, legendary adman David Ogilvy chided his peers for talking down to women. He berated those who ignored women or discounted them, misconstruing men’s higher paychecks to mean greater spending clout. And he was right. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, women–who comprise just over 51 percent of the U.S. population, making them the largest consumer segment in the country–control six trillion dollars in buying power annually. Statistics show that:
Women make 88 percent of all U.S. retail purchases. Some experts even predict that, by 2020, women will control most of the money in America.
Women control 88 percent of all purchases.
Women handle 75 percent of family finances. 43 percent of those with assets over $500,000 are women.
Women influence two out of every three of the 3 trillion dollars spent in the U.S. each year!
From the Sisters4Sisters Yellow Pages:

• Women are starting businesses at twice the rate of men.

• One out of every 11 American women owns her own business.

• Currently there are over 10.6 million women-owned businesses employing 19.1 million people and generating $2.5 trillion in sales.

• Women make or influence over 85% of all purchasing decisions.

• In 2010, women have the majority of wealth in America.

Men pay the majority of social security taxes and are outlived by six years by women, but the government makes no fair adjustment to how those funds are distributed.
In summary, men experience systematic discrimination in parenting, domestic violence policies, education, criminal sentencing, paternity, forced labor, military conscription, public health policies, genital integrity, false accusations, reproductive rights, portrayal by the media and in the coverage of their issues by the news media.
Misandry is often expressed through racism.
From Scottsboro An American Tragedy.
“The protection of white womanhood, it might be the pivot around all Southern culture. Of the 5,000 people who were lynched from 1880 to 1940, most were black men accused of raping or sexually assaulting white women.” – Robin Kelly, Historian
From American Man
From the back cover of the DVD box:
“In 1931, two white women stepped from a boxcar in Paint Rock, Alabama to make a shocking accusation: they had been raped by nine black teenagers on the train.”
and
“- a poor white woman whose lie lends her respectability…”
PBS Home Video
American Experience, a production of WGBH Boston
Academy Award Nominee for Best Documentary
Scottsboro An American Tragedy
The case that sparked the civil rights movement
2001 WGBH Educational Foundation
2005 Artwork PBS

[MissMagnolia]

Red Beard, I don't know where your anger at me comes from and I fail to see why you would be done with WB for my innocent post? There is no reason for you to yell at me on here, so I think you have other issues going on with women. I am a woman. I have been attacked by a man in the past, NOT on a hiking trail. I had concerns and fears about my safety while hiking alone, not only because I'm a woman, but because of my own and many other women's experiences. I believe that parents fearing for their children safety is natural, and women fearing for their own safety is justified. I believe that knowing risks and preparing for them INCREASES my safety and LESSENS my fear.
I quoted stats from the book "Fight Like a Girl and Win" which was published in 2007. I don't know where she got her stats and honestly, based on your over reaction, I am much less interested in what you have to say since you seem to have a bone to pick with women (my own impression based on our limited exchanges right here). I sincerely hope not to run into you while hiking or ever.

[Lone Wolf]

seems red beard has issues with women. he'll get the thread shut down so just ignore him. he ain't gonna leave either