Let�s not forget that men too have rights

Sunday 20 September 2026 ,

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Let�s not forget that men too have rights

Let me begin with a disclaimer of sorts. Do not let the heading mislead you to believe that the column is a humorous piece. Men are actually discriminated against and next to no attention is paid regarding the matter.
I just loved Mad Men, the TV serial. The storyline is engaging and the lead character Don Draper is a fascinating one. One aspect which makes him so popular with millions of viewers is that he is a Man with a capital M. People, including many women are sickened by too many metro-sexual wimps on the screen and this character, with all his flaws, is a welcome relief. Unfortunately the educated class here are aping the West and there is real danger that the manly man will be on the verge of extinction soon enough.
It has almost become politically incorrect to laud the real manly man. And by real men I don’t mean those pervs who salivate at every woman equating them to be so many ripe and tangy tamarinds. Heck, real men don’t eat tamarind, at least they are not too fond of the weirdly shaped fruit.
Many men do prefer strong women. But most in my opinion prefer more feminine and demure women. Just as many women prefer weak and submissive men. It is a matter of choice and perhaps one shouldn’t read too much into it. As the great Sigmund Freud once said “Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.”
Coming back to the issue of men I know it will raise the ire of my feminist friends but men face discrimination too. It is simply wrong to portray most women as hapless victims of the overbearing men. I am not saying that gross injustices are not being perpetrated against women; however, there are countless women’s groups, organizations and government departments fighting those causes already. On the other hand nobody is there to speak out against the injustices committed against decent men.
Unsubstantiated statements can be freely made about men, when these same claims would never be tolerated if they were directed at women. Men play a vital, if often underappreciated role in the raising and nurturing of children but in case of a divorce it is almost invariably the women who is given custody of the child. But while they are often denied access to their own children they have to pay child support. And while the child is brought up with the father’s money his/her mind is often poisoned against the father and his family by the woman in question and her family.
In such cases the men are forced to bottle up their emotions. I can only imagine the feelings welling up in my friend’s mind that is undergoing a traumatic split. Unfortunately, unlike women, society prevents us from showing our full range of emotions and vulnerabilities.
Many well-intentioned laws to protect women are being regularly abused by not so well intentioned females. A wife just needs to make a complaint of assault and all hell will break lose. Not just the supposed perpetrator, the husband, but his whole family are often taken into custody and face a traumatic experience. Studies reveal the overwhelming majority of the accusations are false and used to settle scores.
A woman can and often do make the life of a male colleague living hell by falsely accusing of sexual harassment. She just has to say “the man always looks at me the wrong way and I am feeling threatened.” And it is easy to jump to conclusions.
When it comes to capital punishment, there is clear evidence of bias towards putting men to death but not women. I am quite sure if Qader Molla was woman and not given the death sentence there would hardly have been such vehement
protests.
I can’t deny that the majority of bosses in various fields are man (but the gap is closing fast). However on the other hand men are also the overwhelming majority is terms of the prison population, the homeless population, school dropouts. You do find more men at the very top (but that is changing) but also at the very bottom (not changing a bit).
Masculinity is all part of patriarchy which, according to feminism, is to blame for everything wrong with the world totally ignoring the fact that many women were complicit in historical wrongs and that many women were more privileged than men. Feminism in theory asserts that it is concerned with achieving gender equality. Yet this theory is completely at odds with its practice, which aims for compulsory gender entitlement in every sector and at the expense of men.
No schemes are being furthered either by the authorities for boys the way they are happening for girls.
This has led to more boys dropping out of school resulting in increase of juvenile delinquency. Shunned by the society, such boys grow up with gross inadequacy. There simply is no concept of “men’s rights”, only responsibilities and duties are enshrined for them. Not a single constitutional body has ever been formed to identify and redress problems that only men face. There's no such thing like men’s welfare ministry. Men have to pay more taxes than women at the same income level.
On a less serious note women have been in space, fought in wars and have served as heads of state (in Bangladesh for the last 20 years or so), so why is it that we're the bad guy if we fail to hold a door open for them? In any case have you guys ever wondered that the man who devised the "ladies first" policy may have done it just to check out the woman’s behind. Why are there reserved seats for women MPs in the parliament well after four decades of Liberation. Especially when not only the Prime Minister a woman the Speaker is too as is the Foreign Minister–who by the way created some sort of a world record by spending half her tenure outside the country, giving foreign Ministership a whole new meaning.
The vital Home Ministership was (wo)manned by a lady lawyer until sometime back. There are quotas for women everywhere and in many cases the more meritorious men-folk are forced to lose out.
Women are always raising a hue and cry over equal-rights-for-equal-pay. Fair enough. However why is it that when it comes time to pick up the dinner bill when eating out, these same women become mutes? You can't have it both ways. Being equal means assuming equal duties. The feminist ideology apparently is “men have to respect women, but women have no reason to respect men.”
Men and women ought to complement each other. Men do some things better then women and vice versa. The feminist belief that “Women are smarter” or “Can do all a man can do with high heels” is sheer propaganda. Let’s see if a group of feminists work can work at a coal mine for a month. The same goes for men trying to work in a crèche with dozens of toddlers.

The writer is Assistant Editor of The Independent and can be contacted at: [email protected]

Comments

Let�s not forget that men too have rights

Our Correspondent

Let me begin with a disclaimer of sorts. Do not let the heading mislead you to believe that the column is a humorous piece. Men are actually discriminated against and next to no attention is paid regarding the matter. I just loved Mad Men, the TV serial. The storyline is engaging and the lead character Don Draper is a fascinating one. One aspect which makes him so popular with millions of viewers is that he is a Man with a capital M. People, including many women are sickened by too many metro-sexual wimps on the screen and this character, with all his flaws, is a welcome relief. Unfortunately the educated class here are aping the West and there is real danger that the manly man will be on the verge of extinction soon enough. It has almost become politically incorrect to laud the real manly man. And by real men I dont mean those pervs who salivate at every woman equating them to be so many ripe and tangy tamarinds. Heck, real men dont eat tamarind, at least they are not too fond of the weirdly shaped fruit. Many men do prefer strong women. But most in my opinion prefer more feminine and demure women. Just as many women prefer weak and submissive men. It is a matter of choice and perhaps one shouldnt read too much into it. As the great Sigmund Freud once said Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. Coming back to the issue of men I know it will raise the ire of my feminist friends but men face discrimination too. It is simply wrong to portray most women as hapless victims of the overbearing men. I am not saying that gross injustices are not being perpetrated against women; however, there are countless womens groups, organizations and government departments fighting those causes already. On the other hand nobody is there to speak out against the injustices committed against decent men. Unsubstantiated statements can be freely made about men, when these same claims would never be tolerated if they were directed at women. Men play a vital, if often underappreciated role in the raising and nurturing of children but in case of a divorce it is almost invariably the women who is given custody of the child. But while they are often denied access to their own children they have to pay child support. And while the child is brought up with the fathers money his/her mind is often poisoned against the father and his family by the woman in question and her family. In such cases the men are forced to bottle up their emotions. I can only imagine the feelings welling up in my friends mind that is undergoing a traumatic split. Unfortunately, unlike women, society prevents us from showing our full range of emotions and vulnerabilities. Many well-intentioned laws to protect women are being regularly abused by not so well intentioned females. A wife just needs to make a complaint of assault and all hell will break lose. Not just the supposed perpetrator, the husband, but his whole family are often taken into custody and face a traumatic experience. Studies reveal the overwhelming majority of the accusations are false and used to settle scores. A woman can and often do make the life of a male colleague living hell by falsely accusing of sexual harassment. She just has to say the man always looks at me the wrong way and I am feeling threatened. And it is easy to jump to conclusions. When it comes to capital punishment, there is clear evidence of bias towards putting men to death but not women. I am quite sure if Qader Molla was woman and not given the death sentence there would hardly have been such vehement protests. I cant deny that the majority of bosses in various fields are man (but the gap is closing fast). However on the other hand men are also the overwhelming majority is terms of the prison population, the homeless population, school dropouts. You do find more men at the very top (but that is changing) but also at the very bottom (not changing a bit). Masculinity is all part of patriarchy which, according to feminism, is to blame for everything wrong with the world totally ignoring the fact that many women were complicit in historical wrongs and that many women were more privileged than men. Feminism in theory asserts that it is concerned with achieving gender equality. Yet this theory is completely at odds with its practice, which aims for compulsory gender entitlement in every sector and at the expense of men. No schemes are being furthered either by the authorities for boys the way they are happening for girls. This has led to more boys dropping out of school resulting in increase of juvenile delinquency. Shunned by the society, such boys grow up with gross inadequacy. There simply is no concept of mens rights, only responsibilities and duties are enshrined for them. Not a single constitutional body has ever been formed to identify and redress problems that only men face. Theres no such thing like mens welfare ministry. Men have to pay more taxes than women at the same income level. On a less serious note women have been in space, fought in wars and have served as heads of state (in Bangladesh for the last 20 years or so), so why is it that were the bad guy if we fail to hold a door open for them? In any case have you guys ever wondered that the man who devised the ladies first policy may have done it just to check out the womans behind. Why are there reserved seats for women MPs in the parliament well after four decades of Liberation. Especially when not only the Prime Minister a woman the Speaker is too as is the Foreign Ministerwho by the way created some sort of a world record by spending half her tenure outside the country, giving foreign Ministership a whole new meaning. The vital Home Ministership was (wo)manned by a lady lawyer until sometime back. There are quotas for women everywhere and in many cases the more meritorious men-folk are forced to lose out. Women are always raising a hue and cry over equal-rights-for-equal-pay. Fair enough. However why is it that when it comes time to pick up the dinner bill when eating out, these same women become mutes? You cant have it both ways. Being equal means assuming equal duties. The feminist ideology apparently is men have to respect women, but women have no reason to respect men. Men and women ought to complement each other. Men do some things better then women and vice versa. The feminist belief that Women are smarter or Can do all a man can do with high heels is sheer propaganda. Lets see if a group of feminists work can work at a coal mine for a month. The same goes for men trying to work in a crche with dozens of toddlers. The writer is Assistant Editor of The Independent and can be contacted at: [email protected]