Some men do need to grow a pair. They've been coddled since they were babies and never really did grow up. I have some female friends who have married (and divorced) this type of "modern" man and, what do you know, go straight back to mommy when things don't work out.

I hate to say it, but my generation (35-55) is a bunch of wimps. When I try and hire someone for a sales position, they want the world. They want to work 11-3pm (with an hour for lunch) and live at the coffee shop. Then they whine about traffic here in Washington Mo ! What's the deal? Make 1 sale a week and they are happy about it!

My generation really does need to grow a pair of something.... Pride would help....

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Oh god, you've drawn out the MRA, Steve, run for your life (and sanity).

Good article. And too ironic for our situation. As a young, male, spouse caregiver no one believes the pain and trauma a man is going through and his sensitivity. And since we are caregivers of intersex patients who look female but have male testes and are genetically male, it makes for an interesting discussion in the context of this article. Breaking stereotypes is progress.

Oh, Mr. Baxter - ya big girl's blouse! lol ;-)

World War 2's most famous ditty - mocking Nazi leaders with reference to their testicles.

"Hitler, has only got one ball, Goering, has two but very small, Himmler is very similar, but poor old Goebbels had no balls at all."

You can whistle the rest ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CB8F8g1-4Uw

I love this post.
Grow a pair...don't be a pussy...both phrases need to be killed with fire. Physical features have no bearing on what makes you a man (or a woman.)

I despise this phrase for one simple reason: as a survivor of testicular cancer, I no loger have a pair. I have a singleton; I got rid of the other one, as it was trying to kill me.

Strangely, I haven't noticed any change in my level of masculinity, whatever "masculinity" is supposed to be. It's almost as if testicles have no bearing on who a person is.

Let's face it. We're all trying to pass on our genes. That is our basic struggle, whatever the sex.

So as a (heterosexual) man, I don't give a f*** if another man tells me to grow a pair.

But I do care about the fact that a lot of women seem to want both the super-macho man, and the touchy-feely man, but at JUST the right time. If you get it wrong, you're history.

And all the women are competing for the same select pool of alpha males (who see the women as disposable), leaving those of us who aren't alpha male with little female contact.

Women, meanwhile, have suitors and sex whenever they feel like it.

Take a look at your circle of friends. Chances are there'll be more lost, single men there than women.

That, to me, is the problem, not some phony crap about people putting each other down with mere words.

Well, at least this article isn't sneering, misrepresenting, and mocking the men's rights movement.

It does, however, fall into the feminist trap of assuming that men's problems can be fixed if they just become more like women. And it avoids the really serious issues of discrimination against men which are at the core of the movement.

Still not impressed. But then, with the demonstrated attitude of the editor in charge of the week's theme, I don't expect to be.

In the US, the telly only shows acts of violence against men- that's all that is acceptable & PC in this day and age. Much of it is woman on man. Not sure if it is the titilation factor, or anger & rage from women producers for the now perceived "glass ceiling" or just trial & error results from the censors. But it reinforces the theme of this article...

It's interesting how WE are at admitting men's weaknesses:

"Every year, dozens of men die because they decided to "strap on a pair".....young men are at far greater risk from suicide than women, for example"

The true figure of men's mental fragility in the UK is that a dozen men will commit suicide today - 12 men every day of the week kill themselves - that's more than 4,000 a year

And I agree with the author that "grow a pair" is killer phrase that it'd be great to get rid of - and at the same time we need to stop saying things like "men don't talk", "men need to admit their weaknesses"

Gay people are more likely to commit suicide than straight people - do we say "gay people don't talk" "gay people need to admit their weaknesses"......?

No we say "what are the barriers that gay people face to accessing support services and how can we address those barriers to help them get equal access to those services.....hey, maybe we should fund a special service targeting gay people so we can tailor services in a way that responds to our needs"

In 2009 the CEO of Mind said "It is a major health inequality that a mental health strategy exists for women but not men" - and that remains

Rather than tellign men what they "need" to do and "should" do it's time we treated men and boys like every other equality group and starting asking ourselves what can WE do to address the fact that 12 men will kill themselves today - how can WE change the way we deliver support services to men and boys, understand the barriers men and boys face to accessing services and help them overcome those barriers

Perhaps the public sector could "grow a pair" and start taking responsibility for the inequalities that men and boys face, starting with the lack of mental health strategy for men and boys in UK

Glen Poole
The Men's Network

Hi Stephen

I think you have scratched the surface of the man/up grow a pair topic here, the feminist analysis of it tends to be a very superficial one and usually comes down to something along the lines of "grow a pair and show your vulnerability".

"That's real courage, I think."

Do you see the irony of your putting a shaming device in the form of a charge of cowardice in there?

"Every year, dozens of men die because they decided to "strap on a pair" rather than admit their own weakness. "

I wonder if you have a source for this figure you've given us? ;)

If you are interested in looking at data, you are welcome to drop by /r/mensrightslinks

Mmmmmmm so far in this series we have a man-bashing feminist rant and a stating the bleeding obvious self-help mantra.

"remember that a fall from hubris is just a well-aimed punch in the nuts away."

Brilliant line. I will steal it and claim it as my own at a later date.

MCMAC above is correct as well. Given this is a themed week, something on why men do not go to the doctor and therefore die earlier as a result would be good.

"Dozens..." that seems a tad conservative?