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The Myth of Male Power: Why Men Are the Disposable Sex

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The Myth of Male Power, by author and gender-reconciliation champion, Dr. Warren Farrell, is truly a landmark work. Over the course of the next century it will come to be seen for what it is: a bold and inexorable challenge to American society to rethink from its deepest foundations the present and past attitudes and approaches towards gender equality - an approach that has been dominated by victim feminism. The Myth of Male Power confronts the politically correct myths that undermine true equality and gender reconciliation. Given the current climate of politically correct misandry and the feminist hegemony of gender discourse, it takes tremendous courage to challenge the orthodoxy and establishment. Both Dr. Farrell and his publisher, Simon & Schuster, deserve the highest kudos for their willingness to face the fire on this one.

One thing that makes The Myth of Male Power so fair-minded and authentic is that it affirms the legitimate concerns of women. Because of this, no female reader need fear that it is simply the flip side of feminism (ie: an ideology that preaches that society is actually not male-dominated and patriarchal, but female dominated and matriarchal, and that all problems are due to women with men its primary victims). This is important because it helps fair-minded men and women to see that Dr. Farrell is not seeking to replace feminism with masculism, or engage in "backlash". Indeed it demonstrates his absolute and unwavering commitment to real gender equality and fairness. At the same time, Dr. Farrell does not limit the discussion of gender to women's issues.

The Myth of Male Power explains how almost all societies in general (but American society in particular) are both matriarchal and patriarchal, how men's and women's roles provide unique benefits and limitations on each gender. Both men and women may be seen to be privileged and disadvantaged, each in different ways. Of course, the focus of the book, as the title suggests, is on the male role. This is done not to slight women's issues, but rather to supplement the ever-growing body of literature and research on gender issues which tends to frame the problems from an essentially female perspective.

Well researched, meticulously documented, and richly footnoted, The Myth of Male Power is sure to appeal to the intelligent reader, as well as to scholars who require the references to verify for themselves that no foul play is underfoot. Using a multi-modal approach, Dr. Farrell combines hard statistics, charts, and data tables, with cartoons, humor, and the moving personal anecdotes of individual men and women.

Despite its fair-minded and rigorously documented approach, it does take courage to read the book. Male readers will no longer be able to console themselves (if ever they did) with the myth that they have all the power and privilege in society. Female readers may feel threatened by the challenge to claim their power and its attendant requirement of authenticity and personal responsibility, rather than continuing to hide behind the apron strings of victim feminism.

Despite the strengths of The Myth of Male Power there will always be detractors to Dr. Warren Farrell's work. Why? There are reasons that the current climate of feminist misandry exists. A lot of men have a deep psychological investment in the code of chivalry - protecting women against all threats (real or imagined). Such men may misconstrue Dr. Farrell's challenge as an attack on women. (This is ironic given Farrell's understanding of women's issues, and credentials as the only man ever to have been elected three times to the board of directors of N.O.W. in New York city.) Similarly, a lot of women have a deep psychological investment in feminism and its cozy reassurance that women are always victims, never needing to feel responsible for any of the problems in their lives. Such men and women may find that the challenge of The Myth of Male Power is a threat to them and they may object vociferously. Fortunately, however, such voices are beginning to face some opposition. In my own years of experience as a leader in the movement for men's rights and the establishment of real gender equality, I have seen that men and women alike are now beginning to see through the feminist myths of male power and privilege. Many people are beginning to tire of hearing that women are victims and men oppressors. While this is a good start, the process of correcting society's anti-male biases is in its infancy. Dr. Farrell's book will be seen to have played a crucial role in helping us move towards real equality, and mutual love and respect between the sexes.

After reading this book, some readers (both men and women) may feel inspired to help take action to head off American society's headlong flight towards misandry, masculophobia, and the destruction of fatherhood and the American family. Such readers may consider joining or making a donation to gender-egalitarian organizations that work towards addressing the sex-discrimination faced by men and boys in our society (thus harming everyone, including women). For such readers, the National Coalition of Free Men (on whose Board of Advisors Dr. Farrell sits) offers a unique spring-board for social activism. NCFM is unique in that it is a generalist men's rights organization, not focussing only on one specific men's issue (such as father's rights, men's health, domestic violence, etc.), and because NCFM, founded in 1977, is a grassroots organizations with chapters, membership, and group meetings across the country. To learn more about the National Coalition of Free Men, please visit our website. For readers interested solely in Fathers' Rights, the National Congress for Fathers and Children is an excellent organization. Although women are welcome in these organizations, female readers may prefer organizations aimed primarily at women, like the Women's Freedom Network. The Myth of Male Power includes an appendix listing many other outstanding organizations committed to true gender equality and fairness.

With best wishes for a good read!

Pradeep Ramanathan, Executive Vice-President, National Coalition of Free Men

Around the time he published his most recent and to date most radical book, "The Myth of Male Power," Warren Farrell released these audiocassettes of the same title. Farrell's own recommendation of these tapes as the second step in educating the uninitiated about men's issues (the tapes of "Why Men Are the Way They Are" being the first step) is very well-taken. Information and philosophy are presented engagingly, accessibly, with little fluff or fanfare. Indeed, given Farrell's measured, reasonable voice and carefully presented, step-by-step documentation of his positions, the listener could be forgiven for momentarily failing to notice just how radical a vision of men's position these tapes present. It is only by reference to the current, twisted state of gender politics that one can even understand why Farrell's common-sense, compassionate, incisive approach is seen by some as so "dangerous."

The truth is that these tapes ARE dangerous. They imperil the listener's ability ever again to believe many of the whoppers masquerading as received truths about the "patriarchy," the alleged lower moral fiber of men relative to women, men's supposedly greater power, and many other myths. Farrell reminds us that neither gender wins unless both sexes win.

The tapes take the form of a dialog between the author and a male interviewer who leaves no feminist stone unturned in his scrutiny of Farrell's position. A former three-time New York City National Organization of Women board member, Farrell has no difficulty acknowledging the areas where women truly have been oppressed. But he also is not afraid to demolish some of the favored shibboleths about women's suffering. For example, when experience, job requirements, and attractiveness of jobs are taken into account, women do NOT earn less than men. With the exception of rape, the more violent a crime, the more likely a MAN is to be the victim. Female heads of households have on average 141% the level of assets owned by male heads of households. Women also control most spending. Men are not inherently violent and will curb their natural protective instincts where three basic needs--adequate food, adequate water, and safety from attack---are met. Male violence, Farrell shows, is a response to powerLESSNESS, not power.

Farrell is not afraid of even the most potentially controversial issues. A detailed comparison between the position of men and blacks supports his provocative position that in many ways men are treated as slaves today. (We work longer hours, die sooner, and lose our children.) Nor is he afraid to say the emperor of feminist hypocrisy has no clothes. He notes that many women (and men) complain about men's killing while living in the countries and on the property obtained as a result of this killing.

Farrell addresses some topics that are rarely discussed. He notes the invisibility of men in less valued professions such as the highly hazardous and socially invaluable garbage collector job. He notes that a glass cellar keeps an overwhelming percentage of men in 24 of the 25 worst overall jobs. If we had the same percentage of safety inspections per capital each year as Japan, we would save the lives of 6,000 men and 400 women each year.

Farrell speaks carefully and is quick to crack a joke or poke gentle fun at himself, men, or women. But he is deadly serious about the importance of transforming the current highly polarized gender-based identity politics into a thankfulness for men's unique contributions and a compassion for their struggles to complement our concern for and appreciation of women.

Why the interviewer wonders, are we so slow to learn these facts? Because, Farrell answers, our instincts do not lead us to learn about male vulnerability, even where it exceeds women's. Female victims attract men, but male victims repel everyone. So we protest disproportionate capital punishment of blacks relative to whites but not the stunningly more disproportionate capital punishment of men relative to women. We protest corporal punishment of black boys but not of boys. Astoundingly, we learn that the greatest single predictor of the level of punishment for the same crime is the perpetrator's sex.

Farrell decires the seven legal defenses available only to women such as the "battered women's syndrome" and bemoans the unconstitutional special treatment of rape in criminal law. He notes the ten glass cellars of male existence, including suicide, prison, homelessness, the death professions, earlier death from all fifteen leading causes of death, greater vulnerability to death from accidents, circumcision, corporal punishment, capital punishment, and the draft.

Surpisingly, Farrell manages to retain some optimism about the future of relationships between men and women. For the first time in history, he says, what it takes for men and women to survive parallels what it takes for us to love effectively. Farrell closes these remarkable tapes with a moving plea that we some day reach a place where we can abandon men's rights and feminism and can all work together on a gender transition movement to expand the potential for all of us regardless of gender. Don't miss these superb cassettes. And be sure your mother, partner, and/or daughter don't miss them either. Our future may depend on it.

In 1963, an anthropologist named Jules Henry wrote "Culture Against Man," which, in the words of fellow anthropologist Ashley Montagu, was "one of the most telling and creative examinations of American culture and values written in this century." In this book, where "man" was used in a generic sense (to refer to both men and women), Henry described "a culture torn by conflicting values, a national character made ambiguous by a people leading isolated, fragmented lives. ... [T]his society, so vigorously engaged in surviving physically, may also be dying emotionally."

I have often wished that someone should write a sequel to Henry's book, and only recently discovered that psychologist Warren Farrell had written just such a book in 1993 (now available in a 2001 edition with an updated introduction). Entitled "The Myth of Male Power," Farrell's book shows how, in an effort to achieve equal opportunity for women, extreme feminism has torn apart major parts of our culture and created a situation in which men and women are placed in confusing and conflicting roles that lead to dangerous and often deadly consequences for the men.

In example after example, Farrell shows that men, who were once believed to have a preponderance of power in our society, are now very much at risk. Of the firefighters who are killed on the job, 99 percent are men. A similar situation exists with police officers and soldiers (99.99% of the names on the Vietnam Memorial are of men). There are three times as many homeless men living on the streets by themselves as there are homeless children, adolescents and women combined. Women are significantly more likely to attend college than men, and to obtain a degree. Also, women now live seven years longer than men (whereas in 1920, the life expectancy for men was a year longer than for women)--men die earlier than women from all fifteen of the leading causes of death!

Unlike many authors (who state a problem but offer no solutions), Farrell concludes his book with specific proposals for ending the "gender wars" and taking steps to improve the lots of men and women alike. His book is both comprehensive and readable, and I commend it to anyone who wants to obtain a balanced view of what has created the current state of conflict between men and women in our society, and what can be done to make things right.

As a TV/radio reporter and talk show host, I've not only read this book but spoken with many others who have -- as well as interviewed the author himself.

Working first in southern California, then in upstate New York, I've been struck by how many people from all walks of life find Dr. Farrell's writings as helpful, enlightening and uplifting as I did. The author has a gift of speaking to both women and men, telling us things crucial to understand about one another, WITHOUT casting blame on either gender.

As I've spoken with other MYTH OF MALE POWER readers in person, or listened to them respond to this author during his appearances on my talk shows, it has been my observation that women seem to delight in the tenderness and compassion with which this social scientist approaches his subject while men are simply shocked and overjoyed to see in print things they felt no one would ever speak of out loud.

The only people I have seen consistently crit! ! icize this work are those with an apparent overwhelming attachment to that small twisted tangent of the women's rights movement now known as victimhood feminism.

I once reported on a campus seminar led by Dr. Farrell. The audience of close to a thousand contained people of all ages and interests. Most loved what he had to say as he reviewed the highlights of his findings in this book. But a small group from the university's Women's Studies department were obviously outraged at any suggestion of historical sex roles being harmful to men as well as women. They demonstrated remarkable unwillingness to hear that males die much earlier, are far more frequent victims of violence, of workplace injury, and even of suicide than are females -- let alone any other discussion casting doubt on their dearly held conviction that only women are ever victimized.

As with others I've encountered from within this clique of feminist distortionists, their only interest see! ! med in desperately searching for any small area of question! in interpretation of data, then jumping on such difference of opinion as excuse to repudiate all logical discourse. On the other hand huge gaps in the data they wanted presented were not open to discussion.

Encouragingly, those women's rights activists I've interviewed who adhere to the original tenets of feminism -- as a movement dedicated to healing and equality for all -- have expressed thorough admiration for the revolutionary findings contained in this outstanding work.

Of this author's two most recent books, WHY MEN ARE THE WAY THEY ARE is certainly the softer, gentler approach. THE MYTH OF MALE POWER will come as more of a shock for those steeped in the cultural convention that hurt is an exclusively female experience. But both volumes are absolute MUST reads for any rational adult human being who believes our world needs to some day be made of women and men willing to understand, appreciate, come to terms with, and love one another.

Watch out for female chauvinists disguised as feminists. I certainly realize what our society puts women through, but any woman-feminist or otherwise-who can't accept that the price of male privilege has been quite high throughout history is flat out blind. I don't see feminists clamoring for the right to sign up with selective service, nor for the privilege of having their genitals surgically altered within hours of birth. They have no idea what it feels like to be male, and many don't care to learn either. Women complain that men don't discuss their feelings, but the minute a man speaks about them he's accused of being weak, homosexual, or of trying to hold women down. But don't take my word for it, just check the other reviews.

Sure, there may be some inaccuracies in this book, and the comparison between an unemployed man and a raped woman is tactless to say the least. However, the underlying message is still quite valid. Perhaps Farrell is inconsiderate of women when making his arguments, but let's get real here; feminists have often been tactless and inconsiderate of men when phrasing their arguments for the last 35 years. Need proof: In a review of `The Beauty Myth' by Naomi Wolf (5/12/81, SF Chronicle), Marcia Millman comments of breast augmentation, "it's difficult to imagine men mutilating themselves to conform to some image of desirability." Excuse me, has she ever heard of circumcision? In 1981, the male circumcision rate was nearing ninety percent. I'd say it's highly inconsiderate and quite arrogant for Ms. Millman to suggest that a woman who elects a surgical procedure is being oppressed by society, while an infant male who has one forced upon him is not.

I recommend that all men read this book. Should you come across any women who disrespect its message, view them in the same light as they would view a man who disrespects the message of feminism-as chauvinists.

Quite simply what Warren Farrell is saying here is that, effectively speaking, men are slaves, have been slaves, and will continue to be slaves to feminine interests until they are disposed of (i.e., until they drop dead). He begins with the fact that our culture programs men to die to protect the interests of women (literally in wars and in high-risk jobs, and in dying younger than women) and ends with the fact that the rules of sexual politics allow women to pursue their interests unimpeded while men risk ending up in jail for sexual harassment or rape for pursuing theirs. He shows that a double standard of expectation exists throughout the society, a double standard that consistently protects women and puts men in harm's way. He demonstrates that this situation exists because women have cleverly hoodwinked men into doing their bidding while all the while crying that they are the ones being discriminated against.

Quite frankly, in reading this, one is led to believe that men are "the disposable sex" because women really are superior.

But wait. There is hope. What men really need to do is discard the macho notion they makes them put women on pedestals as innocent creatures who desperately need protection. Talk about being sold a bill of goods! Men need to realize that in the modern social and political environment they have no advantage over women. On the contrary. Their superior size and aggressiveness amounts to less than nothing. Because women are socially and politically more sophisticated than men, men are actually at a disadvantage and need to put more energy into protecting their right to life, liberty, health, love and happiness than women do. Men haven't, and that's why we have a smaller portion of the real goodies of life, goodies we have exchanged for a macho scroll or the tin badge of being The Protector and the One Who Takes the Risks. We need to realize that in order to survive in a post-war world, we need to work a lot harder than we have been working. We need to understand that male superiority really is an illusion, a kind of sly of hand women have put over on men to keep us subjugated. What this book is saying is that women have the real power and men are just self-deluded figureheads.

Thus spake Warren Farrell. Well, his book is a fine example to the contrary, proving (I hope) that men are not about to take all this lying down. Lot's daughters got us drunk and raped us? I don't think so.

I've always assumed that the sexes are equal. The real truth, though, is that the sexes may not be equal at all. It really depends on the environment. If women really are superior to men in terms of social and political skills, skills that are now, with the imminent death of the war system, very much in the ascendency, then men are in trouble. We need to use our brains instead of our brawn. In particular we need to realize that women are masters of manipulation because during the long millennia of the tribal wars, when physical strength held sway, they had to be to get their way. The savannah is long gone, and in the glass and concrete jungle that is our home, subtle manipulation counts for a lot more than physical force.

I missed this book when it came out in 1993. From the title, The Myth of Male Power, I thought it was another feminist put down of men, and I didn't feel like reading another one. I should have read the subtitle, Why Men Are the Disposable Sex. Now I just feel exhausted thinking about all the people who ought to read this refreshing polemic.

Something Completely Different

For those who have everwondered if there wasn't just a little bit more to the story of the"War between the Sexes" than the official version supplied by gender feminists; Author Warren Farrell's landmark book "The Myth of Male Power" provides an amazing amount of information invariably censored by the current P.C. limits on "debate" (such as it is). With his pioneering work Farrell has also stepped on some serious toes, and threatened the "empowerment" gravy train of any number of activists, who are not at all happy about seeing these facts in print. It is probably this more than any other facet of his work, that so enrages those who make their living pedaling the propaganda of Ms.Andry (hatred of men), which depends so much on silencing the voices of those chosen as their scapegoats.

Our media, when not trying to portray him as a reactionary or buffoon, has gone to great lengths to downplay this book and Farrell's contributions to the debate about gender issues. For instance, the Sunday book review for a major west coast newspaper declined to include his book in it's reviews, and instead ran a pro / con debate in another section, featuring a militant gender feminist trashing the book... And "renegade lesbian feminist" Camille Paglia defending it. But no male voices, and certainly not Farrell himself, lest the papers be accused of going too far in pandering to "diversity".

Some have tried to label Farrell a "Sage / Guru" ( usually just before denouncing him ), and others have said far worse, yet Farrell aspires to be neither macho sage or tree hugging guru. Rather he is someone who is making his own journey of discovery, and inviting us to share his own insights and those gathered from actually listening to other men, however politically incorrect doing that may be. Far from offering the final word with total certainty (as gender feminism so often does ) Farrell challenges us to accept the fact that there is more to the story than is being told ( at least officially ), and offers as the reward a chance to discover answers that do not lead to dead ends of accusation.

Like other works with the courage to honestly question ( "Who Stole Feminism" By Hoff Sommers & "Professing Feminism" by Patai and Koertge come to mind ) "The Myth of Male Power" can lead to some disturbing changes in your ability to buy into the current P.C. Belief package. More simply said: it "debunks" common misconceptions in a readily understandable manner, and provide plausible alternative views based on known but seldom mentioned facts, and lets you make up your own mind about what it really means.

Perhaps it took a male feminist who actually believed in the hype about "Equality" of the early days, to genuinely look for ways to build bridges towards equality, and recognize that lies and half truths provide a poor fo! undation for anchoring the supports of such a bridge. With the "Myth of Male Power" Farrell does a credible job of surveying the shoddy work of the gender feminist "social engineers" in surveying the 'male' shore, where the bridge is supposed to land after the feminist tower is constructed on the opposite side. His work is a strong report on the task ahead if such a bridge is to become a reality, as well as a critique on the mindset that produced the current bridge to nowhere, which is only suitable at present for jumping off of.

Good Read *****

I frequently lend this book to my male friends and colleagues and their reaction is always one of amazement and often, anger.

Yes, this book presents some hard truths for women and feminists , but for most men, it articulates that which you were probably aware of but unable to put your finger on.

For me, it pulls together all the main areas where men are discriminated against, and contrary to the negative female reviews of this book, proves it with hard facts. It is illuminating to note that the criticisms in the other reviews refer to "unsubtantiated assertions" and focus on the comparison between rape and male unemployment. So let's ignore the sociological leaps of logic that people claim plague Farrell's work and work solely with facts.

If you look at the cold hard facts this book presents, you will find that FACT - as a man, you will die 5-7 years earlier than a woman FACT - Mens Health is grossly underfunded compared to womens FACT - You will die from all major diseases in greater numbers than women FACT - You account for 95% of all workplace fatalities FACT - when all relevant factors are taken into consideration, women do not earn up to 50 cents per hour less than you, they earn the same FACT- You are 20 times more likely to receive the death penalty in the USA than a woman for the same crime FACT - You are five times more likely to commit suicide than a female FACT-You are more likely to be homeless FACT - You make up 99% of the workforce of the so called "Death professions" i.e. dangerous jobs such as firefighting, oil drilling, lumberjacks etc.

These facts are cited and referenced. There are many many more examples. He examines the Gulf War where feminists claimed female soldiers were sharing "equality of risk". Therefore they should qualify for the extra "danger money" that being on active duty in a conflict zone attracts. They got it. However, strangely, 27 men died for every US woman in the Gulf war, but there are only 9 men for every woman in the US army. Strange isn't it???

The problem that feminist have with this book seems to be that any focus on men's problems detracts from womens. This book captures the fact that life is not easy for men either. Farrell suggests for example that you consider the person who drives your garbage truck, unblocks your sewer, climbs the electricity pylons, builds the skyscrapers and brushes the streets. They're 99% men and he asks that the next time you hear about women doing low paid and menial jobs, you should think about the men who are doing the low paid and dangerous jobs.

Life is not necessarily easy for either gender, but the attempts to dicredit and smear Farrell, his book and legitimate male problems are sickening. But on a positive note, I'm gratified that we're having this effect. It's raising men's awareness and building a movement that is beginning to challenge female sexist attitudes that are also pervasive. e.g. children belong to the mother. Feminists don't like it and the fact that even reviewers on this site are scrambling madly with frantic, petty and hostile attempts to keep their myths in place show that it's beginning to work. The truth will out!!

Farrells book is a facinating book that dispells many of the lies of radical feminism, with meticulous footnotes to back up his claims. This is the book that's been pulled from library shelves and banned by the Matriarchal educational and medial establishment. Finally, somebody tells our side of the story.

Once in a lifetime, a book appears that can change the face of mankind forever, and on the issue of de-escalating the gender wars, The Myth of Male Power may be that book. As a former Director of the New York Chapter of the National Organization of Women, and now as an Advisor to organizations such as the American Coalition for Fathers and Children, Dr. Farrell knows both sides of the issues as well as almost any other major writer.

What he offers is essentially a healing message of the need for understanding instead of confrontation between the genders. A basic idea of the book is that mankind is in the process of transformation from family structures suited to an agricultural/industrial economy, to structures suited to a post-industrial age.

Most of the legitimate gains of the feminist movement have come not as a result of confrontation, but because of market forces in a changing economy where women are equally qualified for most jobs. What will be most needed in the 21th century is equality for men in the home, that women have largely achieved in the workplace. The Myth of Male Power is an exploration of changing societal and individual attitudes that will be needed for that to happen, and a must read for anyone concerned for the future of mankind.

David A. Roberts, President, ACFC