The Second Sexism: Discrimination Against Men and Boys

ISBN-13: 9780470674512 / Angielski / Miękka / 2012 / 304 str.

David Benatar

Opis

Does sexism against men exist? What it looks like and why we need to take it seriously This book draws attention to the "second sexism," where it exists, how it works and what it looks like, and responds to those who would deny that it exists. Challenging conventional ways of thinking, it examines controversial issues such as sex-based affirmative action, gender roles, and charges of anti-feminism. The book offers an academically rigorous argument in an accessible style, including the careful use of empirical data, and includes examples and engages in a discussion of how sex discrimination against men and boys also undermines the cause for female equality.

Recenzje

“I recommend The Second Sexism to scholars who investigate gender relations, and I urge academic feminists to take Benatar’s thesis seriously and to respond to it with respect rather than with disbelief or derision.”  (American Philosophical Association′s Newsletter on Feminism and Philosophy, 1 May 2013)

“This book simply must be read . . . . Highly, highly recommended.”  (Mens News Daily, 4 January 2013)

“The Second Sexismis well researched, with voluminous references. As such, it serves the useful function of raising consciousness about an important social issue. Benatar’s research makes a strong case for an in–depth examination of the injustices and discriminations that men suffer in this and other societies in the 21st century.”  (PsycINFO/PsycCRITIQUES, 21 November 2012)

“The Second Sexism is a strong and early step on the way to the awareness, amelioration, and treatment of a widespread and unaddressed problem that affects a not insignificant portion of the human population.”  ( New Male Studies Review 3, Jonathan Badiali′s, 26 September 2012)

“Benatar’s analysis brings much needed clarity to contemporary debates in gender studies, whose discourse runs the risk of becoming stagnant and dogmatic against a constantly changing social backdrop. Benatar does well to remind us that it is not only females who are constrained and disadvantaged by the roles that they have been socially encouraged to take up.”  (New Male Studies Review 2, J.P. Messina′s, 26 September 2012)

“And now, thanks to Professor Benatar, we have an incisive, comprehensive discussion of the phenomenon that feminism has unwittingly brought to the forefront . . . The writing is jargon–free. As a philosopher, Professor Benatar is attentive to conceptual nuance and clear, precise usage.”  (New Male Studies Review 1, Miles Groth′s, 26 September 2012)

“This is a very well–argued book that presents an unorthodox thesis and defends it ably.  It would be a useful text in both undergraduate and graduate courses in philosophy and gender studies, where it is certain to arouse a lot of discussion, much of it excited.  Since it is very clearly written, and would be interesting and accessible also to the educated layperson.  Most importantly, however, it is likely to change our understanding of gender relations.”  (Metapsychology, 21 August 2012)

Spis treści

Preface x

1 Introduction 1

What Is the Second Sexism? 1

Disadvantage 2

Discrimination 3

Wrongful discrimination 3

Sexism 5

The First Sexism 12

Two Kinds of Denialist 13

Forestalling Some Fallacies 16

Structure and Method of the Book 18

2 Male Disadvantage 25

Conscription and Combat 26

Violence 30

Corporal Punishment 33

Sexual Assault 36

Circumcision 41

Education 46

Family and Other Relationships 50

Custody 50

Paternity 51

Paternity leave 53

Homosexuals 54

Bodily Privacy 54

Life Expectancy 57

Imprisonment and Capital Punishment 59

Conclusion 61

3 Explaining Male Disadvantage and Thinking about Sex Differences 77

Beliefs about Males 77

Questions about the Beliefs 84

To what extent, if at all, are the beliefs true? 85

What makes the beliefs true? 89

What, if any, implications are there? 93

Conclusion 96

4 From Disadvantage to Wrongful Discrimination 101

Conscription and Combat 102

Kingsley Browne’s basic argument 103

“Slippage” 104

Military effectiveness 106

Dangers of conservatism 109

Statistical differences 113

Final thoughts on combat and conscription 121

Violence 122

“The perpetrators are men” 123

“Men are better able to defend themselves” 124

“Men pose a greater threat” 125

Two kinds of discrimination 127

Corporal Punishment 128

“Males are more badly behaved” 128

“Corporal punishment is not as damaging to males” 129

Sexual Assault 132

Circumcision 134

Education 135

Family and Other Relationships 137

Bodily Privacy 142

“Women have a greater interest in bodily privacy than do men” 143

“The conditions are different” 145

Equal employment opportunity 148

Life Expectancy 152

Imprisonment and Capital Punishment 155

Conclusion 163

5 Responding to Objections 173

The Inversion Argument 174

Conscription and combat 175

Violence 179

Circumcision 182

Education 183

Sexual assault 185

Bodily privacy 186

Custody 188

Life expectancy 189

Imprisonment 193

The Costs–of–Dominance Argument 194

The Distraction Argument 199

Defining Discrimination 202

6 Affirmative Action 212

Rectifying Injustice 215

The past discrimination argument 216

The present discrimination argument 218

Lessons from “Summers School” 225

Consequentialist Arguments 228

The viewpoint diversity argument 228

The role–model argument 229

The legitimate–sex–preference argument 231

The ideal argument 232

Conclusion 233

7 Conclusion 239

Does Feminism Discriminate against Men? 239

Are Men Worse off than Women? 246

Taking the Second Sexism Seriously 254

Conclusion 259

Bibliography 266

Index 285

O autorze

David Benatar is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cape Town. He is the author of Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming into Existence (2006).

Blurb

While the manifestation of sexism against women is widely acknowledged, few people take seriously the idea that males are also the victims of many and quite serious forms of sex discrimination.

So unrecognized is this form of sexism that the mere mention of it will be laughable to some. Yet women are typically exempt from military conscription even where men are forced into battle and risk injury, emotional repercussions, and death. Males are more often victims of violent crime, as well as of legalized violence such as corporal punishment. Sexual assault of males is often taken less seriously. Fathers are less likely to win custody of their children following divorce.

In this book, philosophy professor David Benatar provides details of these and other examples of what he calls the “second sexism.” He discusses what sexism is, responds to the objections of those who would deny that there is a second sexism, and shows how ignorance of or flippancy about discrimination against males undermines the fight against sex discrimination more generally.