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Do men face more discrimination than anyone else? Trump voters think so

What is it with the right’s persecution complex? Conservatives are quick to cry “identity politics” and denigrate women or minorities who complain about discrimination as snowflakes who should toughen up. However, they seem to spend most of their time complaining that men, particularly straight white men, are the most oppressed people in the world.

Trevor Noah on voter suppression: 'Well, well, well, my old friend racism' Read more

See, for example, a recent poll conducted by YouGov and the Economist which found that Trump voters think men are one of the most persecuted groups in America today and have it far worse than women, African Americans, and LGBT people. Forty-nine per cent of Republicans surveyed said men faced either “a great deal” or “a fair amount” of discrimination. Meanwhile only 30% of them thought women were discriminated against. Thirty-eight per cent thought African Americans faced discrimination and 41% thought LGBT people did.

Really? I mean, really? Men obviously aren’t immune from gender-based discrimination; you don’t waltz through life simply because you are born a man. Nevertheless you would have to have a total disregard for facts to claim that men have it worse than other groups. There is simply no evidence that this is the case; the patriarchy is still very much alive and kicking. I won’t wheel out the endless stats that back this up, I’ll just pose a simple thought experiment. Namely: can you imagine the US electing a female president who had boasted about grabbing men’s crotches? Can you imagine the US having a female president who routinely described men with derogatory slurs like “horseface”, for example? Of course not. It’s hard enough to imagine the US having a female president at all at this rate.

So why do so many men feel hard done by when there is ample evidence that the systems of power are still very bent towards them? Well, as the saying goes: “When you’re accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression.” We’ve still got some way to go before true gender equality but the steps we are making towards it seem to be far more than some men can handle.

The US police force has a sexual misconduct problem

Disturbing research from Bowling Green State University shows that US police officers were charged with forcible rape 405 times between 2005 and 2013. They were also charged with 636 cases of forcible fondling and 219 cases of forcible sodomy during this period. These numbers, it should be said, come from published media reports, so they are likely to tell only a fraction of the story when it comes to police officers abusing their powers.

Trump administration aims to expand religious exemptions for birth control coverage Read more

The Trump administration is coming for your birth control

The US Department of Health and Human Services is trying to push through new rules that would reduce access to birth control for millions of women. The rules would allow employers to stop providing contraceptives under their health coverage by claiming a religious or moral exemption. Because obviously nothing is more holy than forcing a woman to give up control over her reproductive system.

Yorkshire grooming gang jailed

Twenty members of a grooming gang were convicted of abusing girls as young as 11 in the UK. The men were convicted of more than 120 offences and the case is believed to be Britain’s single biggest grooming prosecution

Protest in India after Hindu temple opens to women

Last month, India’s supreme court overturned a law which banned females of a menstruating age from entering one of Kerala’s holiest temples. Angry protesters are now forcibly preventing women aged 10-50 from entering the temple, in defiance of the law.

Kleenex will rebrand its Mansize tissues

The tissues, only available in the UK, are now going to be called ‘extra large’ after complaints about sexism on social media. It may be a small step towards dismantling gender stereotypes but it’s nothing to sneeze at.

All hail the eight-year-old Queen of Sweden

Saga Vanecek made headlines earlier this year after she pulled an ancient sword out of a Swedish lake. She’s now told her story to the Guardian and it is very sweet indeed.