I don't research men!

"On November 23 the legislation sailed through parliament. Within two weeks, the detailed correction had suddenly appeared on the Commission's website. Game over." - Bettina Arndt.

As this quote demonstrates; "Research stops, when women stop being shown as the victims." - Warren Farrell Phd. Media interest also stops when women stop being victims. Media coverage of the research findings that Lenore Weitzman's research results were false has been non-existent, and so far not a single media sources in Australia has covered the findings of Greg Andresen

Christine, a work colleague and feminist, challenged the findings of a research paper that I had found that showed men made better parents. She questioned the methodology, the sample size and multiple other points. That is when I had an epiphany, she would accept without question, the findings of any research that aligned with her own personal and feminist political beliefs and she would fiercely challenge any research that contradicted her beliefs as being false or misleading. This, I just learnt recently is an example of the "Soldier Mindset" or "Motivated Reasoning" terms that Julia Galef used in her TED talk.

Research is an extremely useful tool as it can be used to build understanding or as a weapon to destroy. The minute someone says "Research says" or "The research does not show" it is time to become extremely sceptical especially when it comes to gendered based research. This type of research is often aimed engaging the emotive part of the brain, once the emotions are engaged or "driving" as Brene' Brown phrases it, "logic and rational thought are not even in the back seat, they are locked in the trunk."

In her book Heterophobia author Professor Daphne Patai wrote about how the use of emotive analogies are used to trick the brain.

Brene Brown who has a Bachelors and Masters in Social Work is a research Professor who studied Courage, Shame, Vulnerability and Empathy and is a trained therapist. During her TED talk on "Listening to Shame" she mentions the time a man asked her why she didn't study men? This was her response;

"I did not interview men for the first four years of my study. It wasn't until a man looked at me after a book signing, and said,

"I love what say about shame, I'm curious why you didn't mention men."

"And I said, 'I don't study men.''

"And he said,"That's convenient"

(Laughter)

And I said, "Why?"

And he said, "Because you say to reach out, tell our story, be vulnerable. But you see those books you just signed for my wife and my three daughters?"

I said, "Yeah."

"They'd rather me die on top of my white horse than watch me fall down. When we reach out and be vulnerable, we get the shit beat out of us. And don't tell me it's from the guys and the coaches and the dads.

"Because the women in my life are harder on me than anyone else."

"So I started interviewing men and asking questions. And what I learned is this:

You show me a woman who can actually sit with a man in real vulnerability and fear,

I'll show you a woman who's done incredible work."

Perhaps unconsciously she was following an already established trend in the field of Social Work that did not conduct research into men. Jordan I Kosberg wrote a paper "Heterosexual men a group forgotten by the profession of Social Work" (2002).

Social work literature has mainly focused upon females and gay males.…… The conclusion reached was that heterosexual males are seldom discussed and when they are discussed they are portrayed in a very biased manner…………… A stereotypic view of heterosexual males is both unfair and untrue, and precludes necessary attention in the class room and in practice to their normative needs and special problems.

.Social work has been a woman's profession. The vast majority of social workers have been and are women" (Weick, 2000, p. 395). Indeed, this is true. However, social work clients are not only females. Despite this, social work literature is female-oriented and provides a negative view of heterosexual males.

It was learned that when males are discussed they were, in the main, discussed as gays or if heterosexuals, discussed in negative ways (such as abusers or absent fathers). Thus, it is believed that social work literature is biased and results in social work students and practitioners often being unaware of the various potential problems facing heterosexual males.

2016 British Journal of Social Work; The Unheard Gender: The Neglect of Men as Social Work Clients Nehami Baum https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4986080/

This critical review shows that, despite increasing attention to fathers in social work practice and research, men are still largely the 'unheard gender'. Almost all the social work literature that deals with men discusses them as fathers, namely in terms of their function in the family. Very little of it looks at men in other roles or situations or concerns itself with men's experiences, feelings or needs. Similar neglect of men characterises social work practice and training."

Eeva Sodhi in her article Manufacturing Research, demonstrates how research about men is being conducted. Men are not asked pertinent questions, in the example she gives, it is about child custody and access arrangements. The researchers arrived at their conclusion that the fathers were perfectly happy with the current child custody arrangements through the use of information that was gleaned from the mothers ( a bit like staking a deck of cards).