The Online Compendium of Men’s Issues is a catalogue that will attempt to identify and define the issues faced by today’s men. It is intended as a one-stop reference for those who wish to learn or write about these issues. It is a work in progress and will remain so for the foreseeable future. Phase 1 of the Compendium is currently underway. In this phase  I am currently attempting to identify,  classify, and define the issues. This week’s additional entries are below.

Paternity fraud is the intentional misrepresentation of paternity, committed by a child’s mother, perpetrated against the child and the father of the child, and sometimes against the state. It is a violation of the most basic responsibility a woman can have to another human being. It carries both short and long term consequences for all parties including the mother. This fraud can deprive a child of the right to know its father, a father of the right to know his child, and if discovered, it can damage or break the bonds between mother and father, and child and mother. It can result in severe emotional harm to all parties. It also misinforms the child regarding his/her medical history, making it unobtainable or erroneous due to the lack or mis- identity of the father. In addition, it can result in emotional and financial damage to an altogether innocent and unrelated man who may be wrongly identified as the child’s father and ordered to pay child support.

There are many reasons a woman may commit this type of fraud. She may attribute paternity to her husband to hide an extra-marital affair. She may wrongly identify a man as the father believing that he may be better capable of providing support for her child. She may have ended a relationship with the biological father and want nothing further to do with him.

Paternity fraud can include not only the refusal to name the father of the child, but the naming of the wrong man as the father. In addition, it can include acts of deception in order to become pregnant. Such acts can include misleading a man into believing a woman is using birth control or saving a man’s ejaculate from nonvaginal sex and inserting it into her vagina without his consent.

Paternity fraud is currently legal in the United States despite its being a gross violation of the most basic of human rights and dignity.

Circumcision is the practice of removing the foreskin from the penis. This may comprise as much as half the skin of the penis and helps protect the glans (head) from urine, feces, and abrasions and keeps it soft and moist. Once removed, the glans may become calloused, dry, desensitized and is subject to chafing. The foreskin also increases sexual pleasure. Jews, Muslims, and some others practice ritual circumcision as part of their religion. But in the 1800’s, doctors (primarily in English speaking countries) began recommending routine circumcision for male infants to prevent masturbation, which was said to cause many diseases and illnesses. Of course circumcision does not prevent masturbation and masturbation does not lead to illness. It is exceedingly painful (even for infants) and can lead to complications. Some organizations believe that circumcision can help decrease the risk of spreading HIV. While this may or may not be true, far more effective methods are available and there is some evidence that circumcision may actually increase the risk. There is no medical reason, nor any medical organization that recommends routine circumcision for all male children.

Female circumcision, aka female genital mutilation, has been banned in many countries including the United States. This ban includes the ritual nick that has sometimes been recommended as a method that may prevent more extensive surgery by satisfying religious obligations. The ritual nick is far less extensive and severe than male circumcision which remains legal. Double standards that offer legal protection of bodily integrity to girls, but deny that same protection to boys are discriminatory and possibly a violation of the 14^th Amendment of the US Constitution. Infant circumcision denies the right of a man to maintain genital integrity and control over his own body and carries unnecessary health risks by removing a sensitive, protective, functioning, and necessary organ and for this reason should be banned.

Rape culture is a term used by feminists to describe any culture that allows as common practice the normalization of violence against women. The term originated with second wave feminists of the 1970’s, possibly in Susan Brownmiller’s 1975 book Against Our Will: Men Women and Rape in which she referred to a “rape-supportive culture” existing in the United States. It is part of a theme that underscored second wave feminism that purported that “All men are rapists” and “all sex is rape.” While these statements are extreme and believed by very few, the sentiment has permeated the culture resulting in the demonization of male sexuality (men are condemned as “potential” rapists) and has instilled a general fear of rape (rape hysteria) into women. The result is a pervasive, underlying feeling of distrust between men and women.

Various studies have produced results concluding that rape may be the most commonly committed crime in America. According to these studies, prevalence of rape is so high that depending on whose figures are being quoted as many as one in three women will be raped in her lifetime. Yet actual reports of rape remain rare. This leads feminists to the conclusion that rape is a grossly underreported crime and that as few as 10% of rapes ever get reported. Unreported rapes have been called “hidden” rapes. This alleged underreporting of rapes has led to widespread changes in law, police practice and procedure, interviewing techniques, etc. intended to increase reporting, but with very little success.

But rape culture comprises far more than just rape. It is comprised of acts of sexism that validate and rationalize misogyny. It might include sexist jokes, a general disregard for the well-being of women, or domestic violence. These are said to be factors contributing to the acceptance of rape in a culture. But does such a culture exist or is this hysteria whipped up by feminists with an agenda to push?

Consider that none of the changes in law or practice has resulted in a substantial increase in the reporting of rape. Consider that most of the persons associated with conducting studies indicating high prevalence of rape self-identify as feminists. Consider that most of these studies reject (usually without explanation or further inquiry) alternative explanations of their findings. For example, in the famous one in four study conducted by Mary Koss, interviews with many subjects who were defined by the study as rape victims denied they had been raped. Koss rejected this denial stating that the subjects simply did not understand the meaning of rape. She simply rejected the possibility that her questionnaire may have elicited a high percentage of false positives without any further study. Finally, consider that rape culture is an ideological construct and not scientifically demonstrated or defined. It is so broad as to include many acts and attitudes that have little to nothing to do with rape. For instance, has there ever been a studied that has demonstrated that making sexist jokes promotes or causes rape?

Rape culture does not exist. It is an idea fabricated by feminists and intended to instill fear and create hysteria. It disparages men and demonizes male sexuality. It turns all women into victims. It may even be responsible for sustaining an environment not conducive to reporting the actual crime by making women believe their reports won’t be taken seriously or they won’t be believed. It may also have created an environment of false reporting. Female victims gain a special status as “survivors” and may be granted special services and attention. False accusers are rarely punished even when caught, yet continue to be identified as victims. What exists in society today is not rape culture, but rape culture hysteria.

It is important for men to realize that having a penis does not make one a potential rapist. It is also important to realize that studies claiming that a high percentage of women will be raped are not based on actual reports of rape, but on questions designed to hide the fact that the researcher is attempting to study rape.  Changes to the law and judicial process based on exaggerated claims appealing to human emotion are threatening our constitutional rights. In some states, an accused man must now prove his innocence by proving that he obtained consent. The burden of proof has shifted from the prosecution to the defense. Other laws prevent a full examination of the accuser while permitting acts previously committed by the defendant into evidence even if unrelated to the specific charge. Once laws that circumvent constitutional guarantees become established in one area, it doesn’t take long for them to be applied in other areas. Do we really want a judicial system in which the accused is presumed guilty rather than innocent? Rape culture hysteria helps to promote the establishment of totalitarian government by appealing to emotion rather than fact. This hysteria must be exposed for what it is and brought to an end.

-TDOM