Interesting article in yesterday's Observer about masculinity, arguing that men are 'depressed, repressed and objectified' following reports that their libidos are waning, they are becoming more obsessed with their outward appearance and they are now considered non-essential to parenting. However, it follows an article in the Guardian last month that notes a backlash against feminism commenting that 'the sex industry is booming, the rape conviction rate is plummeting, women's bodies are picked over in the media, abortion rights are under serious threat and top business leaders say they don't want to employ women.'

So who's having a worse time - men or women? It shouldn't be a competition, but how do you react to stories like these?

We need to listen to each other's experiences, to find out what it's like to be a man or a woman at the beginning of the third millennium. We need to remember that there are lots of different ways to answer the question of what it means to be male and female and that 'shoulds' and 'oughts' have no place in the discussion. And we need to remember that any way forward is not found in being defensive, or aggressive, or in competitively listing all the ways in which we have a hard time. It's found in working for the equality of both sexes, not the dominance of one at the expense of the other. It's found in the partnership that God created and Jesus modeled.

photo: carbonnyc