Quoted in the Independent today, Michael Buerk suggests that men are being marginalised in the British media, citing the BBC specifically, and claims that the result is that men are becoming more effeminate. I'm just surprised this is news, although perhaps someone needed to say what I suspect many have felt (consciously or otherwise) for some time.

"The traits that have traditionally been associated with men - reticence, stoicism, single-mindedness - have been marginalised. Look at the men who are being held up as sporting icons - David Beckham and, God forbid, Tim Henman."
Michael Buerke, BBC newsreader

Follow up:

From TV To Life
You can witness it yourself as soon as the adverts come on too. How often do you see adverts targeted at women where the butt of a joke is often a man, and nearly as often, the fact that he is male is a significant part of the joke. I'm thinking of a current tampon advert (a really bad one too) where the point of the joke is a teacher mistaking a tampon for a sweet and being made to look a fool by saying "I hope you brought enough for everyone." I'm also reminded of an older ad where two women are drinking coffee in the kitchen when the man of the house returns. I think he was partaking in sport, but the point is he was all mucky and the wife won't let him in with his shoes or clothes on. Instead of slapping the bint, he duly removes his clothes and puts them in the washing machine leaving only a box of washing powder protecting his modesty. On asking what setting the wife looks at the box covering his crotch, replying "Small load should do it" before collapsing in hysterics. Aside from coming to the conclusion that women really do have no sense of humour, I wonder whether companies would get away with making similar jokes about women.

You may have guessed these ads are a pet peeve of mine, but back to the point in hand. Some have dismissed Buerk's complaint as just the whinging of a media-man, suggesting that his experience is a result of choosing a life in the media. That would be fine if that was the only arena affected. The problem is that the media is not an island and it has a profound effect on the cultural and societal fabric of the nation.

I'm sure you all know girlymen. You know, those who are led around by that invisible string that their wife or girlfriend seems to have attached to their balls. The men who are shamed out of being men, no doubt influenced by the flood of 'nice but dim' type characters on those ever so PC TV programmes that infest our screens, often aimed at young people, like Hollyoaks (I know you all hate me now, but I do watch it sometimes - and yes I'm aware its possibly the worst programme on TV) with it's male beauty therapist, Lee, and it's idiotic, patronising, intellectual Neanderthal: Tony.

Yeah, it's all harmless at the end of the day - or is it?

In Our Schools
School children are right this minute experiencing something similar. Buerke talks about the qualities of reticence, stoicism and single-mindedness (none of which seem to be particularly fashionable anymore) but in education, and often in wider circles, competitiveness is seen as an evil to be avoided and minimalised; maybe even condemned? The concept of 'failure' is an unknown.

You're likely aware of the existing gulf in exam results between the sexes, with girls significantly outperforming boys. What's less publicised is that this is at least partly the result of wishy washy teaching methods. Boys are motivated by fear of failure and by competition. I certainly was, particularly by the latter. By removing these incentives, the performance of male pupils suffers. It's not rocket science.

I'm not sure where the school was but when I was in my GCSE year I remember being a lesson where a (female) teacher mentioned a study where a school reintroduced more competitive practices resulting in a decrease in the gap between male and female pupils of 50% within a year! Why would such a story not have been widely publicised in the media?

Feminising Exams
Madsen Pirie of the Adam Smith Institute wrote "How Exams Are Fixed" discussing how exams have been 'feminised' since, for example, the abolition of O-levels in favour of GCSEs with more emphasis on modules and coursework, concluding:

Ultimately, we have to ask ourselves what sort of society we are producing if we feminize the entry qualification into its leadership positions. If we select the methodical over the risk-takers, male or female, and the systematic in preference to those with insight, will Britain still be capable of meeting the challenges the world throws our way? While the country might be more peaceable, more sensitive to the needs of its citizens, and more efficient in applying itself to the detail of good management, we might ask if it will still be as inventive and creative? Will it still produce Penicillin and hovercraft? Or will it just produce Civil Servants?
"How Exams Are Fixed" by Madsen Pirie, President, Adam Smith Institute

Maybe Buerk's onto something. Feminism has gone too far. Men everywhere need to retake control of their balls, and stop letting themselves be ridiculed and punished for being men.