16 Jul 2018

The Mysterious Invisibility Of Men’s Good Deeds

By : Sometimes the easiest way to view a problem is to look at it in the simplest, almost childlike manner. I think Hans Christian Andersen knew this and that is reflected in his masterpiece, The Emperor’s New Clothes.
As I sat on my couch and watched the news each night last week I saw endless footage of hundreds, if not thousands, of men working to save the lives of twelve young boys and their teacher. One of these men died trying to save them. I did not see a female in any of the footage in the caves or outside the cave. Perhaps there were a handful. None of them to my knowledge were in any way involved in the actual physical rescue of the boys.
https://www.cbsnews.com/live-news/thai-cave-rescue-soccer-team-all-out-of-cave-in-thailand-2018-07-10-live-updates/
Another story covered the floods in Japan. Again, all footage showed men and only men, rescuing people while risking their own lives.
www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-10/japan-death-toll-rises-to-134-as-rescuers-continue-search/9971820
This event was taking place at the same time as outrage was bubbling away in our media over Senator David Leyonhjelm’s crude words to a female senator in the aftermath of the rape and murder of a young woman. This crime led to an outpouring of vile attacks on men and boys. We were all responsible in one form or another for the aberrant behavior of the crazed killer.
So, the crimes of one mentally unstable man instantly became representative of masculinity and its toxic nature.
But what of the lifesaving men?