Men's issues on Blog Talk Radio with Amy Alkon

I will be a guest on Amy Alkon's show on Blog Talk Radio discussing men's issues today, Sunday, January 1st at 4:30-5:30 Eastern. We will also be answering your questions on air.

You can call in to speak with us between 4:30 and 5:30 Eastern on Sunday about men, sex, relationships or culture at (347) 326-9761. So, even if you are still hung over from New Year's festivities on Sunday, call in. We would love to hear from you.

Update: You can click on and listen to the show below:

Listen to internet radio with amyalkon on Blog Talk Radio

Questions Needed for Blog Talk Radio on Men's Issues

I will be a guest on Amy Alkon's radio show on Sunday, January 1st at 4:30 Eastern and our topic will be men's issues with a focus on paternity rights and relationships. For example, why do men have so few paternity rights? Should you get a DNA test? Why is fatherhood so unpopular that young guys don't want to be dads? Why do women have so many reproductive rights but men have few or none?

Do you have any questions or comments that you would like us to discuss regarding men, relationships, culture or sex? If so, drop them below and we will pick out some to discuss on air. Thanks!

I read a post over at Amy Alkon's blog entitled "Muzzling Men" that really made my blood boil, and it should make yours boil too, if you care about men and their civil rights. The post was on the work being done by Glenn Sacks and his group, Fathers and Families:

Via Fathers and Families rather outrageous legislation criminalizing men's relationship choices. Glenn Sacks writes:

Fathers and Families has joined with the ACLU of Michigan in opposing the Michigan's Coercive Abortion Prevention Act (CAPA). It is one thing to criminalize violence or threats of violence designed to coerce a woman into having an abortion. It is quite another to criminalize men's personal relationship choices, as CAPA does. Fathers and Families does not take a position on abortion, but we do oppose CAPA.

There's a link at Sacks' site to email their letter to relevant committee members. From an op-ed by Sacks:

HB 5882 [CAPA] actually makes it a crime for a man to "change or attempt to change an existing housing or cohabitation arrangement" with a pregnant significant other, to "file or attempt to file for a divorce" from his pregnant wife, or to "withdraw or attempt to withdraw financial support" from a woman who he has been supporting, if it is determined that the man is doing these things to try to pressure the woman to terminate her pregnancy.

Why not criminalize the use of pregnancy by women to trap men into getting married? This makes as much sense as CAPA. Seriously, why aren't the Nazis proposing these laws tarred and feathered?

"You Have to Practice Happiness."

Amy Alkon has a good interview up with psychologist Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky on her book The How of Happiness: A New Approach to Getting the Life You Want.

Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky says that the components of happiness are estimated to be 50% genetic, 10% life circumstances, and 40% of happiness comes through your thoughts and actions: the latter is where one can practice to improve their life.

Do you agree with this analysis?

Merry Christmas!

I Have a Dream

I wonder what would happen if the media treated the Republicans and Libertarians as well as they treated Democrats for one year? Some negative images against the right are very obvious but others are more subtle. For example, I was researching some information about marriage and how some were lasting longer. I ran into this paragraph at the Washington Post:

“The odds of getting divorced are much lower for educated and affluent Americans, the escapades of Schwarzenegger and John Ensign notwithstanding,” Wilcox said, referring to the former governor of California and the former senator from Nevada.

In this story by Carol Morello, she could have just as easily chosen quotes from someone who talked about the marital escapades of Democrats John Edwards or Bill Clinton but she didn't.

Why not?

Some people may feel that examples like this are not important but the negative obvious and subtle hostility floating around in the culture against those on the right leads to results like this: Despite their sinking employment prospects and the negative direction of the country, "60% of millennials blame Obama's opponents for his inability to get anything done." Maybe if they stopped the blame and realized that Obama's policies are not in their favor, their generation would do better. But it "feels good" to be popular, go along with the media and look cool by agreeing with the propaganda handed out in school, the media and their peers.

What would happen if the media made it "cool" to be a free market capitalist, discussed the virtues of F. A. Hayek or Milton Friedman, or even told those millenials that youth unemployment may possibly be a result of Obama's failed policies. I know it will never happen but one can dream, can't they?

How about just one year in which the right was treated with kid gloves the way the left is now as an experiment to see what would happen? Given all the negativity in the press against the right, it's amazing they do as well as they do.

Why Kris Humphries Should Serve as a Role Model for Men

It's better to die upon your feet than to live upon your knees!- Emiliano Zapata (and others) and later Kris Humphries when talking to wimpy Scott Disick on the Kardashian show "Kourtney and Kim Take New York."

The Kardashian women have taken something else besides New York--the dignity of their men. Have you ever watched this show? I have to admit that I have watched Keeping Up with the Kardashians for the past few years but recently, it has become nothing but a disgusting display of female bullying and male groveling, until Kris Humphries came along and decided he wasn't having any of it. Bravo to him!

If you have watched the show, you will know that the mother of the show, Kris Jenner, has served as the emasculating matriarch to her Olympic-athlete husband, Bruce Jenner, for years. He puts up with the Kardashian putdowns, insults, and nonsense by avoiding them or playing golf. The only comforting thing about Jenner is that he is quite rich on his own, and is probably just playing along for the show. Or maybe this isn't comforting at all, since he has fallen from Olympic-hero to hen-pecked, overlooked husband with no input into his family's life with all the world watching.

Then there is Scott Disick who originally looked like the poster-child bad-boy who trained under Roissy on how to treat women. He ignored his girl-friend Kourtney, ran around, drank and was full of anger. Then after Kourtney had their son Mason, he starts to "settle down." Could he have learned to be a better partner? Yes, of course, but with some backbone. Now, he is banished to his own room to look at porn while Kourtney prances around with their two-year old son. He gets no sex, sleeps alone and spends his days on Kourtney and Kim Take New York telling Kris Humphries not to do anything to agitate the girls.

For example, on a recent show, Kim and Kourtney are heading to LA for business and tell the guys they are not allowed to have anyone in the hotel suite. Kris wanted to relax and have friends over for a party but he was told that no one was allowed to be there while they were away. Kim and Kourtney had spent the previous weeks filling the house up with women, friends and a naked male yoga instructor. Kris was disgusted but no one cared.

Kris finally cared enough about himself to get out of this marriage (though it apparently was Kim who filed for divorce) and fought back to boot. Kim had tried to tell him where he would live, how he would live and how he would dress and behave. Yes, Kris, it is better to die on your feet than live on your knees. I just wish there were other men in bad relationships who had the nerve to stand up to the women in their lives the way that you did.

Is a Good Blogger Thick-skinned or Well-Read or Both?

Do you think that a book on the technique of blogging can help you be a better blogger? I'm not so sure but I did pick up a copy of Writing for the Web: Creating Compelling Web Content Using Words, Pictures, and Sound to see if maybe I was missing something.

Somehow, I feel that good bloggers are those who have good topics, read a lot of blogs, read and write and practice their craft fairly frequently. But, in order to stick with blogging, I think you need a thick skin. It seems like a number of fairly good bloggers quit because they feel upset, fed up, insulted or demeaned. I once had the head of a medical program write to tell me he was upset because he saw something negative about himself in another blog that I had linked to; I had actually defended his position to some degree but he blamed me for linking to someone who thought he was less than perfect. I don't think he would do well in the web world where negativity is often the name of the game.

Anyway, a book on blogging technique? I suppose it could be useful. Lynda Felder's book makes some good points. She talks about the importance of making a commitment to writing either daily or weekly, pursuing your passions, keeping content fresh, and writing succinctly. The book seems most helpful for those who are new to blogging or who want to add more images, sound and video to their website and need information on style and substance.

What qualities define a good blogger in your opinion?