September 27, 1999
Web posted at: 11:35 a.m. EDT (1535 GMT)

WASHINGTON -- In 1992, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Susan Faludi hit the best seller list with "Backlash," a book that chronicled attacks on the gains women made in the previous three decades.

But Faludi's latest book, "Stiffed," is about the author's theory that American men are in crisis. She says that American men have been betrayed by fathers who taught loyalty and honesty, then left a world where the opposite is rewarded, by a society where women advance as men stagnate, and by a political system where civic minded individuals are powerless compared to corporate cash and influence.

"They feel cheated of a useful role in society, and that's what manhood has historically been grounded in," Faludi said. "More and more we're passing from a utilitarian society, where people's useful roles are needed and valued, to a commercial and celebrity culture, what's most valued is -- or what seems to only get recognized is display, marketable fame, sex appeal, youth," she said.

It's a powerful argument. But is it true?

In Faludi's eyes, men are looking for a place in late 20th century America and having trouble finding one.

But not everyone sees it that way, including Washington Post reporter Thomas Edsall, who also is writing a book on gender politics.

"Men have come out of -- are coming out of this whole upheaval winning and losing," he said. "The Faludi book focuses on the losers. They're not the guys who are doing well. They're the sad, the lonely, and they're the losers."

Edsall says men dominate at both ends of the economic spectrum.

"Some men respond by being very successful and competing and striving and they do clearly continue to control most all important, significant and powerful elites," he said. "They also control the bottom with a vengeance. They are the criminals, they are the violent, they are they homeless, they are the nutcases you see in the subway, they are they wife abusers."

For all the stories of failure and alienation, Edsall says men are generally doing well.

"The whole revolution economically of the last 20 years has been this high-tech, information technology revolution. That clearly is one where the skills that men have are advantaged even more, where men do well, particularly at the various highest levels."

But Faludi says manhood cannot be measured by economics alone.

"One thing I've really learned in my travels with men is that a sense of manhood is not fundamentally determined by the size of one's wallet, that there are more better concepts of loyalty, social utility, public service, and these are the very concepts and values that have been tossed in the scrap heap in the past few decades. And that's where men continue to feel betrayed."

Are men mired in a deep identity crisis or simply adapting, often successfully, to new realities? The debate extends to politics.

"One thing that has struck me so far about the presidential election is how much it's a father-son story, which I think is very telling, because so much of the men's crisis is that they feel there's nothing being handed down, that there's no patrimony," Faludi said.

"And you look at the candidates, and particularly George W. Bush's, just imagery-wise, allows people to feel that -- particularly men, to feel that something was handed down from father to son, that there is a legacy. And similarly with Gore, who's father was senator, and similarly with someone like John McCain, who just wrote a book on his father. "

But while the candidates' personal stories may touch men, their messages, focused on traditional women's issues such as education and health care, can be alienating.

"One of the things I have found in reporting on this book is that men do not feel listened to," Faludi said. "That's part of their anger towards feminism, they feel like everybody else's agenda is more important than theirs."

But Edsall said that while the political strategies are aimed at appealing to women, the people calling all the shots are men.

"In terms of dominating, even though it may be a strategy designed to appeal to women, the guys -- the people calling all the shots are guys, " he said.

Where Faludi sees more cause for male resentment in the issue agenda, Edsall sees hard-nosed politics.

"Bush, with his compassionate conservatism, is trying to mute the loss of women from the Republican Party, and he's trying to do that in a very clear way. He's pushing education, he's pushing more money for Head Start for education. He is trying to reduce the kind of hostile tone that Republicans had towards policies that are most important to women, and he's also trying to still be the nice hail fellow, well-met, kind of guy. "

Edsall and Faludi may disagree on the number of men who feel "stiffed," but they at least agree that such men do exist and that they have a political advocate.

"The guy who's really going after that -- the voter we're talking about is Pat Buchanan. He does want the guys who've taken a real beating. The Faludi constituency would be a target constituency for Pat Buchanan," Edsall said.

Faludi said the Buchanan delegates that she watched at the 1996 Republican National Convention felt betrayed when Buchanan threw his votes to Dole and instructed them to do the same.

"So the big question with Buchanan is: Is he going to command the loyalty of people who really felt he was their man only to be sort of left at the doorstep?" she said.

Faludi says reclaiming a sense of citizenship and participation is the only way to restore men's faith in politics.

Otherwise, she warns, politics will truly be the province of a tiny elite: the men round the candidates, who are calling all the shots.

Monday, September 27, 1999

• Quayle quits GOP presidential race
• Committee to question Justice and FBI officials on Trie probe
• McCain formally kicks off campaign
• Male voters: In crisis or in control?
• Clinton touts higher-than-expected $115 billion budget surplus
• New Medicare reference books on the way
• Clinton using hoarse voice to speak for schools, candidate
• Tripp sues White House, Pentagon
• Some Nebraskans wonder if recall law has gotten out of hand
• Hastert says GOP intent not to rob Social Security

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