Harris letter: Statesman article

Once again the Idaho Statesman and its major “news provider,” the Washington Post, have struck a blow for irrational man hating. The article in the Dec. 10 issue titled “Surprise! Study says sexist men have issues” sets out the “findings” of this most unscientific “study” ever published. This so-called “study” was a syntheses of 78 various studies done by someone (not disclosed) over a 10-year period, and only a “majority” were men and about half of them were white men. Some “focused on African Americans or Asian Americans” and most (percentage unknown), were “straight.” The “findings” were based on a comparison of traditional “masculine norms” such as “sexual promiscuity” as related to “particular mental health outcomes.” Just how this was done remains a mystery. The results were “not rocket science,” according to one expert. The article also notes the ongoing research studying “toxic masculinity.” Not only were the “results” “not rocket science,” they were obviously based on prejudice, ignorance, incompetent method and predetermined outcome. One wonders whether the Washington Post or Statesman would publish such a clearly absurd and insulting approach to scientific study if the words “women” was substituted for “men” and “feminine” for “masculine” in the article.

This story was originally published December 28, 2016 at 10:25 AM with the headline "Harris letter: Statesman article."