Ends and Odds: The Ravings of An Old Man by Dave Jaffe. Chapter One of "The Problems Of Men.

   The Problems of Men by Dave Jaffe. Part One.




      I sometimes worry about men and the problems we face. Yet let's be clear here. I'm not going to launch into anti-feminist rant. In the last 50 years or so, women have pushed themselves into the public conversation. Many women have become lawyers, doctors, ministers of the church, bus drivers, carpenters and top class athletes. And all of this is good.
     I favour #MeToo and #Time'sUp. Yet sometimes men and our fate worry me.
      Men for one thing die at least six to seven years before Canadian women do. Men are far more likely to be killed by other men than women are. In 2015 over 600 Canadians were killed mostly by men. 150 victims of these homicides were women. Yet over 450 were men. Men aren't only three times more likely to be killed than women. They're also far more likely to 'be' killers. Close to 90 per cent of all violent crimes are done by men.
     Most crimes period are done by men. Not only that. Men are far more likely than women to die in car crashes, suffer from physical and mental diseases and kill themselves far more often than women. "Women try to kill themselves more often than men," a mental health worker tells me. "Yet it's  mostly men who do away with themselves. And they don't make any mistakes getting the job done."
   Men are also far more reckless than women wherever they are - off the job or on it. "Women get it," a big construction foreman tells me. "They don't have to be told to take precautions on the job. They always look out for themselves. Men are a totally different story."
    Women may complain about being constantly looked at by men. Yet being under someone's constant gaze has some pluses. Because women from a very early age realize that men are looking at them, they take better care of themselves. In the community centre I go to, the aerobics classes are chockfull of women. You can't find too many men sweating and straining in these crowded places. They're ususally playing pool or bridge. As a result they die as I've said, at a much younger age than men.