Men and the News: A CAFE Retrospective

Send us your top stories about men from 2014

We need your help! The Canadian Association for Equality is putting together a retrospective analysis of the biggest and most important news stories from 2014 related to boys, men, fathers, or to masculinity and gender more generally.

We’re asking for your help so send us your top 3 or 4 examples so we can vet them and come up with a Top 10 list. The list will be publicized on our website and incorporated into a public statement

We need your list no later than Wednesday, January 28.

If you read some stories that irked you last year, or alternatively others that filled you with hope and optimism, now is your chance to help us to formulate a positive response that advances a genuine dialogue on gender equality.

Please indicate if you would consent to having your name identified in connection with your recommendations.

Stories may relate to one or more of the following areas: 

1. The vilification of men as a group by generalization from specific instances

2. The double standard with respect to the portrayal of men as compared to women, eg. situations where men and women are portrayed differently despite engaging in similar behaviour or actions, or where the sympathy evoked for men and women differ significantly despite the equivalent severity of victimhood of the two genders

3. Stories that showed men in a positive light or engaging in praiseworthy actions

Examples may include

– Kevin Vickers the Sergeant-at-Arms who saved the Canadian Parliament from the attack by a gunman. (#3)

– The Boka Haram kidnapping of 215 girls which became a worldwide disgrace as compared to the Boko Haram gender selection and slaughter of young school boys a few months earlier which generated little gender-focused attention  (#2)
– Ray Rice is attacked by his wife and given a pass. He slugs her back and is arrested, charged and loses his reputation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Rice (#2)
– University of Ottawa’s entire men’s hockey team is vilified because of the bad behaviour of two players (#1)
Thank you!
Canadian Association for Equality