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Nov. 6, 2009
Rabbi Berel Wein: Choosing to hear
JWisdom.com Zero to 1/60th: How to Empower An Hour with Gavriel Aryeh Sande (7 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick The mullahs' big week
Suzanne Fields A Fallen Wall for Fallen Man
Nov. 5, 2009
The Kosher Gourmet: Three scrumptious -- but simple -- butternut squash dishes
JWisdom.com Hidden Hints: Unlocking Faith & Prayer with Rabbi Jay Yaacov Schwartz (10 minutes)
Nov. 4, 2009
Tom Hamburger and Kim Geiger: Should prayers be covered?
JWisdom.com When God played peacemaker With Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (5 minutes)
Nov. 3, 2009
Martin Peretz: Beware, Barack. Beware, Rahm. Beware, Axelrod
JWisdom.com Are you are closet idolater? With Sara Yoheved Rigler (10 minutes)
Nov. 2, 2009
Paul Greenberg: The Holocaust is now on Facebook
JWisdom.com Abraham's Strange Change With Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer (5 minutes)
Oct. 30, 2009
Rabbi David Aaron: Secret to Immortality
Caroline B. Glick Silencing dissent in America
Oct. 29, 2009
Lini S. Kadaba: Do tactics avert flu or reduce humanity?
JWisdom.com We Must Revamp our Religious Vocabulary With Gavriel Aryeh Sanders ( 10 minutes)
Oct. 28, 2009
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Atheists in Bubbleland
JWisdom.com Why what we wear impacts who we are With Rabbis Mordechai Becher, Menachem Golberger and Aliza Bulow ( 10 minutes)
Oct. 27, 2009
Paul Greenberg: The United Nations Is Outraged Again, Or: Department of Mideast Static
JWisdom.com The Science of Love With Rabbi Jonathan Rietti ( 7 minutes)
Oct. 26, 2009
The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Damaging disclosures with a twist
JWisdom.com Wisdom and Wonks With Rabbi Eytan Feiner ( 7 minutes)
Oct. 23, 2009
Rabbi David Aaron: Are you ready for the ultimate pleasure?
JWisdom.com Watermark and oneness with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 4 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick Stop using limited powers in a way that expands our enemies' advantages over us
Oct. 22, 2009
Steven Emerson: Terror Cases Share Desire to Kill Americans
JWisdom.com No More More Family Fights --- Really? By Sarah Chana Radcliffe ( 5 minutes)
Oct. 21, 2009
Tonya Alanez: Holocaust denier sues survivor, calling Auschwitz memoir 'vicious lies'
JWisdom.com Meditating Jewishly: A Panacea for Success by Sarah Yoheved Rigler ( 7 minutes)
Oct. 20, 2009
Dennis Prager: Obama and Dalai Lama: Why Israel Worries about U.S. President
JWisdom.com Abraham was not religious By Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer ( 6 minutes)
Oct. 19, 2009
JWisdom.comWhy Good People Do Bad Things By Rabbi Eytan Feiner ( 7 minutes)
Oct. 16, 2009
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The Perfect Number
JWisdom.com Hearing Voices By Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 5 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick How Turkey was lost
Oct. 15, 2009
Jeff Jacoby: Peace vs. the 'peace process'
JWisdom.com: Former MTV producer and stand-up comedian Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff: Taming a Control Freak (A VERY fast 15 minutes)
Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review Dec. 2, 2005 / 1 Kislev, 5766

Yes, Maureen Dowd, men are necessary

By Lori Borgman

Lori Borgman
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | There are a lot of things I sometimes think I'd like to be, but a man is never one of them. Talk about a group maligned, vilified and marginalized.


For the most part - abusers, perverts and slackers - aside most men are stand up guys. They work hard. They create, tinker, build, engineer and achieve. They take carping, criticizing and complaining on the chin, and rarely get the thanks they deserve.


And now comes New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd's new book asking "Are Men Necessary?"


In the name of equality, I hope there will be a future release titled, "Is Maureen Dowd Necessary?"


Ms. Dowd needs $25.95 and 352 pages to answer the question as to whether men are necessary.


This Mrs. needs no cash and will answer the question in fewer than 500 words. Are men necessary?


Yes, absolutely, positively yes.

How do we need thee? Let me count the ways:


The primary reason we need men is because they are not women. ("Hallelujah Chorus" should be sung here.)


Not that the feminist movement didn't try to make men into women. They gave it their best shot over the years, nudging boys to trade in their cowboy hats and chaps for dolls that wet and Suzy Homemaker ovens, and urging men to get in touch with their softer side, emote more frequently and turn from being brutes and oppressors. Some men accepted the upbraiding without blinking. Others simply said, "Huh?" or "What channel is the game on?"


As feminism evolved, it split into two camps. Equity feminists focused on the need for equal pay and equal opportunity. Gender feminists ("A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle)" carved out the disposability of men and abortion rights as their hallowed ground. Today, gender feminists use words like herstory instead of history and make visits to the wymyns room.


Through sheer strength and frequent spikes of testosterone, men have managed to survive. And a lot of women are glad they did.


Men are necessary because men complement women.


Men protect.

Men provide.

Men take responsibility.

Men tend to be steady.

Men temper women's concerns for security and safety with a sense of adventure and risk.

Men teach boys what it means to be male.

Men and women together can accomplish what neither is able to accomplish alone.

Men tend to be direct and have simple needs; chief among these would be food, love and respect, though not necessarily in that order.

And ladies, this seems like a good place to mention Relationship Tip No. 37: Do not attempt to turn your man into your girlfriend.

Do you seriously think shopping is going to be his thing?

Last year in our nation, 1.5 million babies were born out of wedlock. These children have no "man of the house," no dad who wants to marry mom. Statistics say the overwhelming majority of these kids will be at risk for a variety of dangers and behaviors.

In simple terms, life is going to whoop the stuffin' right out of a great number of them.

Are men necessary? Very much so. It is a tragedy we have spent so long telling them they weren't.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

JWR contributor Lori Borgman is the author of , most recently, "Pass the Faith, Please" (Click HERE to purchase. Sales help fund JWR.) and I Was a Better Mother Before I Had Kids To comment, please click here. To visit her website click here.

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© 2005, Lori Borgman

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