A Letter to Post Persian Gulf bureau chief Susannah George About Her Article on Iranian Mining Disaster
Ms. George's article proves that she's completely unaware of the "gender empathy gap" that disadvantages men and boys
Dear Ms. George,
I respectfully ask that you take the time to read this letter regarding your recent article in The Washington Post, Gas explosion at Iranian coal mine kills at least 51, state media says.
As a brief introduction, I’m a lifelong reader of the Post who nevertheless has long noticed the paper’s feminist-inspired gender bias, provable by its imbalanced coverage of domestic violence1 and its 2018 publication of the op-ed Why can't we hate men? Since then, I’ve been sending letters to Post columnists who have written articles that perpetuate this bias.
Your article is just one more example of this gender bias.
Do you know why?
Here are some hints, found in the article:
- “…killed at least 51 people and injured 20…”
- “Teams on foot carried victims…”
- “One report said around 70 people were working in the mine at the time of the explosion.”
NOW, do you know what’s wrong with the article?
No?
OK, here’s one final hint:
What was the sex of explosion’s victims?
It’s a damn certainty that those killed or injured (likely grievously) were ALL MEN!
This is but one of a limitless number of examples of what is known as the “gender empathy gap”. You, like most people, have almost certainly never heard of it.2
Even though it’s literally been right in front of us all this time.
The empathy gap is “… the striking and disturbing indifference of our culture to the suffering of men and boys in stark contrast to our evident concern for the suffering of girls and women.” [From a video clip of anti-feminist Janice Fiamengo talking about the empathy gap]
The empathy gap is why thousands of articles just like yours are completely oblivious to men’s far greater suffering, despite easily obtainable facts.
Males:
· live six years less than women
· suffer 94% of workplace deaths
· are 80% of the homeless
· are 80% of deaths by suicide
· are 76% of homicide victims
· are more likely than women to be charged with crimes, receive 63% longer sentences on average, while women are twice as likely to avoid incarceration if convicted [from Estimating Gender Disparities in Federal Criminal Cases]
· form the only group who, via the Forced Labour Convention of 1930, is still subject to a type of slavery (aka “military conscription” — the law exempts “able-bodied males between ages 18 and 45 from the ban on slavery and forced labor”)
· finally, males are at least 50% of the victims of domestic violence yet are nearly 100% ineligible from receiving assistance from taxpayer-funded DV shelters. If you don’t believe that women perpetuate at least 50% of DV, please read this law review article (PDF), written by a woman.
Despite these well-documented male disadvantages, feminists have convinced many that men instead have “male privilege”. If you believe that men are privileged, please view this video.
Finally, your article illustrates the empathy gap, in that it undeniably shows how the Western media report on the injury or death of males versus that of females. When men are injured or killed, they are almost always referred to as “workers”, “soldiers” or even “people”. When women are injured or killed, they are usually referred to as “female” or “women”, and their gender becomes central to the story.
The most glaring example of the empathy gap in the media is when a few years ago the Boko Haram terrorist group kidnapped more than 200 girls. There was international condemnation and a global “Bring Back Our Girls” campaign started. First Lady Michelle Obama was photographed holding a “#BringBackOurGirls” sign.
But there was scarcely a trickle of media attention when Boko Haram killed hundreds of boys — many burned alive — months before the girls’ kidnapping. Please view this video about the shameful neglect of these boys’ deaths — because they were male.
So, when women or girls are injured or killed, the media says so; when men or boys are injured or killed, the media minimizes their suffering by not mentioning their gender.
So I forget… WHICH sex is “oppressed”?
Ms. George, in closing, may I respectfully ask that before you again write about accidents that involved the injury or deaths of men, that you recall my letter to you and remember to mention the gender of these victims, in the same way that the Western media currently mentions it when women or girls are victims?
You may also wish to learn more about the unequal way that men’s suffering is treated by our society. If so, I recommend reading a book The Empathy Gap: Male Disadvantages and the Mechanisms of Their Neglect. It provides a comprehensive analysis, with supporting evidence that proves how “…men and boys are extensively disadvantaged across many areas of life, including in education, healthcare, genital integrity, criminal justice, domestic abuse, working hours, taxation, pensions, paternity, homelessness, suicide, sexual offences [British spelling], and access to their own children after parental separation.”
Sincerely,
Stephen Bond
Publisher of "Letters to The Washington Post" Substack
This observation was confirmed by a February 2023 report by The Coalition to End Domestic Violence that described a 10-Year Suppression of the Truth on Domestic Violence by the Washington Post.
The content here has been sourced from other letters on the gender empathy gap.