Sunday, January 29, 2012

No, seriously, what about the truth?

I do not know why so many of us get caught up discussing real world problems on feminist blogs whose focus is talking about men's issues. Usually, the discussions on these sites are benign, like dating advice or some other such crap, but when these blogs do talk about real problems facing men, there is a formula that they follow which enables them to dismiss or "explain" away men's problems. No calls for action, no ideas for fixing the issue put forth, no blame laid at biased programs or projects which caused or added to the problem.

Their formula goes something like this:
  1. Obfuscate the reality of the situation by presenting only selected data to conclude things aren't that bad for men
  2. "Gender Role" the problem to explain why men's behavior is the reason they suffer more  than women
  3. Talk about how women suffer just as much, even though they are given preferred treatment
  4. Never ever blame feminism or a feminist group(s) for pushing biased legislation that hurt men
  5. Ignore any information or data that shows governmental programs and projects that help women but exclude men, which created or adds to the real problem
  6. Don't offer any concrete advice other than "gotta fix those gender roles" which is a nice way of saying "Patriarchy hurts men too"
  7. Ignore societal and institutionalized sexism

For example, let's take the recent discussion about homelessness that occurred on No, Seriously, what about teh menz? and The Good Men Project. Since the GMP literally just regurgitated what NSWATM said, let's focus on what ozymandias42 wrote.

Item 1 -
Obfuscate the reality of the situation by presenting only selected data to conclude things aren't that bad
"Most studies show that single homeless adults are more likely to be male than female. In 2007, a survey by the U.S. Conference of Mayors found that of the population surveyed 35% of the homeless people who are members of households with children are male while 65% of these people are females. However, 67.5% of the single homeless population is male, and it is this single population that makes up 76% of the homeless populations surveyed (U.S. Conference of Mayors, 2007).

In the United States, therefore, as of 2007, roughly 60% of homeless people are male: this suggests that the problem is somewhat gendered but not strongly gendered. However, some big shit has happened since 2007, most notably a recession, so we might want to look for more recent stats."
This is a perfect example of giving only half of the data, but pretending it is the full story. The numbers she posts are a combined look at those who are in long term residences, short term shelters and those who are unsheltered. In these numbers and statement, Ozymandias is actually pointing out why things goes sideways for homeless men. Almost all of those women and women with children are sheltered homeless though dozens of different programs which the government offers, mostly for families.

The truth is that there is about a quarter of a million unsheltered homeless, who are literally sleeping on heating grates, park benches or underpasses, whose numbers get lost in those who have actual shelter. And the overwhelming majority of these unsheltered homeless are men. Depending on which study you believe, AHAR, HHS, Housing Coalition, US Mayors Study, etc etc, conservative estimates put the number at about 83% men, while other studies have calculated the percentage to be as high as 95%. [1][2][3][5][7]*

What also wasn't mentioned by NSWATM and the GMP, is that the biggest problem with finding the sex of unsheltered homeless people, is that even though HUD and HHS both required that box to be checked during the street count, neither publications come out directly and give the actual figures. They do however give counts for the sex of the sheltered homeless over 18, hence by subtracting out the sheltered figure, then adding in boys under 18, you can come to a good approximation of the number of unsheltered homeless males.

One way to look at the sex of unsheltered homeless people, is to sort through the local counts that cities and counties do. Dupage County, Illinois is a typical example of this:
  • 99 individuals total unsheltered homeless
  • 90 males
  • 09 females
  • 3 families consisting of 9 individuals
  • Grand total of 108 individuals
 Even HHS admits the failure of federal and state programs to help homeless men find shelter.
"Single men who are poor may be more vulnerable to homelessness because of large gaps in the Unemployment Insurance program and because the largest safety net programs, such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Social Security, are for families or elderly people. The share of unemployed workers receiving unemployment insurance has declined in recent decades and the gap may be particularly perilous for men because poor women are likely to be accompanied by children and thus eligible for TANF. Adult poor men also have higher rates of substance abuse than women, but substance abuse has not been a categorical eligibility criterion for SSI since 1996. Thus, some women may fall through one social safety net but be caught by another; men may miss them all. 
In addition, men are more likely than women to have institutional histories that are related to homelessness, including incarceration. And finally, relatives may feel a stronger need to give a temporary home to families with children than they do to single men."
 Item 2 -
"Gender Role" the problem to explain why men's behavior is the reason they suffer more
"First, it is necessary to consider aspects of the male gender role that might make men more likely to be homeless: for instance, men’s greater likelihood of being veterans, or the tendency of men to not seek treatment for their mental illnesses and substance abuse. Looking at it without the gender lens risks missing important aspects of gender."
While I agree that looking at gender roles is important when talking about things like homelessness, it isn't the answer to the problem, but only a partial description. For instance, being a veteran in and of itself is only a characteristic, and not a cause. Indeed, the Department of Veteran Affairs has implemented a female only housing project for veterans, but none for men only.

Mental illness and substance abuse, however, are actual causes, but unlike women, who have many federal programs to help them deal with these problems, men have none. We can say all we want that men won't go seek help, and to some extent that may be true, but unless there are places for them to go, which are readily available, then it doesn't matter much, does it?

From HHS, here are the characteristics of a homeless man.
  • 1 in 10 are Veterans
  • 4 in 10 has some sort of disability, including mental illness
  • 75% are over the age of 30, most are older than 40
  • Race- 42% African-American, 38% white, 20% Hispanic
  • 1 in 17 men living in poverty will access an emergency homeless shelter each year, compared to 1 in 35 women living in poverty
Looking at homelessness through a "gendered lens" is important, but it is no substitute for the fact that men are still sleeping out in the cold. "Gendering" away the problem doesn't actually fix it, nor does it take into account how the government has programs geared towards or are heavily biased to women. An in-depth study of these programs, as well as information about family court systems and its bias favoring women, can be found here.

Item 3 -
Talk about how women suffer just as much as men, even though they are given preferred treatment
"Third, it is important to note that there may be reasons why women are more likely to be housed than men that still don’t mean the women are in a particularly good situation. For instance, women are more likely to participate in survival sex in exchange for housing. “Survival sex or homelessness,” however, is one of those dilemmas that really leaves no one in a particularly good situation."
I'm want to quote a comment left on TGMP by Typhoon_Blue, who is the author of the excellent blog GendErratic.
Those studies that break survival sex down by sex find the following:

“21 percent of the boys and 5 percent of the girls said that they had engaged in sex in exchange for ‘food, shelter, money, or drugs.”[a]

“13 percent of males exchanged sex for money or drugs and 7 percent of females exchanged sex for money or drugs.” [b]

“43 percent reported experience with survival sex (46 percent of young men and 32 percent of young women).”[c]

“41 percent of the youth had been sexually exploited in survival sex or prostitution. 47 percent of females and 37 percent of males were propositioned to sell sex.” (Note: Propositioned to sell sex, does not equal selling sex for survival. I’m just including this for completeness.)[d]

I was basing my understanding on:

“Depending on the survey, between 18% and 39% of the youth identified as sexually exploited. There is a common perception that sexual exploitation happens mostly or only to females, but street-involved males were just as likely to be exploited as females.

“Around 1 in 3 street-involved youth indicated they were sexually exploited. Among the younger street-involved youth in both surveys, a higher percentage of males than females were sexually exploited (33% males vs. 24% females in 2000, 34% males vs. 27% females in 2006). In contrast, among the older street-involved youth in 2001 in Vancouver, a higher percentage of females identified as exploited (53% vs. 32% males).”

Indeed, men can and are sexually exploited or abused on the street frequently. Many men turn to a life of prostitution in order to survive, and is not a unique phenomenon to women.

Just a couple other quotes from NSWATM that I felt should be addressed.
"The primary causes of homelessness– poverty, lack of affordable housing, unemployment– affect everyone, regardless of gender."
Well, no, unemployment affects men more than it affects women. When the last round of job creation programs were passed, jobs typically held by women benefited much greater thanks to pressure from the National Organization of Women. In fact, men have about 2.1% greater unemployment rate, which equals out to be:

Unemployed Year End 2010
Women – 8.6% – 6,199,000
Men – 10.5% - 8,626,000

As of 2010, men have fallen to about 41% of college enrollment, and hence the job market for guys under 30 is very poor. However, the federal government, along with many state programs, have a plethora of female only affirmative action monies and programs still cranking away for higher education. There are still no affirmative action programs for men in post secondary education, even though their percentages have fallen below those of what women were at in 1965. In fact, women under 30 flat out make more money than men, even when taking into account things like dangerous jobs.
"Second, it is necessary not to erase the existence of women who are homeless. Even though men are more likely to be homeless, homelessness is a lot more gender equal than a lot of people present it."
No one is attempting erase the existence of women who are homeless or live in poverty. But homelessness is NOT more "gender equal" than people present it. Living in a low income apartment, with money stipend through TANF, is a hell of a lot better than sleeping on the street. People in poverty have it bad, no matter how you slice it. However, when it comes to society, men are often forgotten. But when news comes out of a slight increase of women becoming more homeless, the media and government light up with crys for help, along with the money and effort to make that help happen.

GAO report to Congress about homeless female veterans
 
And the media stories and government programs geared towards men?

.....well, no, nothing there.

I would invite any of these folks to come to Washington DC with me at some point, and walk the streets between midnight and 6am, to see what a life lived on the streets does to a person. I work with an organization which has been lobbing for more money and more resources for men sleeping on the streets for quite awhile now. So far we have had little luck, as many in Congress have been very open about not wanting to be seen supporting programs benefiting men, because they worry about being seen as anti-woman. This is the world we live in folks.

I wonder when men will been seen as worthy enough to receive the help they need?

References:
[1] http://www.societaldistress.org/files/HO-HAR2009.pdf
[3] http://www.hudhre.info/documents/4thHomelessAssessmentReport.pdf
[4] http://www.popcenter.org/problems/homeless_encampments/endnotes/#endnote4
[5] http://www.hudhre.info/documents/3rdHomelessAssessmentReport.pdf
[6] http://www.dupagehomeless.org/2011%20PIT%20Comparison%20Report%20REV%202..pdf
[7] http://www.hmis.info/classicAsp/documents/AHAR%20Revised%20Brief%20(FINAL)%20for%20Website.pdf
[8] http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat2.pdf
[9] http://www.huduser.org/Publications/pdf/Ann_hmlss_rpt_508.pdf

[a] Feitel, B., N. Margetson, J. Chamas, and C. Lipman. 1992. Psychosocial Background and Behavioral and Emotional Disorders of Homeless and Runaway Youth. Hospitality and Community Psychiatry 43(2): 155‐159.
[b] Rotheram‐Borus, M., H. Meyer‐Bahlburg, C. Koopman, M. Rosario, T. Exner, R. Henderson, M. Mattieu and R. Gruen. 1992. Lifetime Sexual Behaviors among Runaway Males and Females, The Journal of Sex Research, 29, no.1: 15‐29.
[c] Kipke, M., S. O’Conner, R. Palmer, and R. MacKenzie. 1995. Street Youth in Los Angeles: Profile of a Group At High Risk for Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection. Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine 149: 513‐519.
[d] Wagner, L., L. Carlin, A. Cauce and A. Tenner. 2001. A Snapshot of Homeless Youth in Seattle: Their Characteristics, Behaviors and Beliefs About HIV Protective Strategies. Journal of Community Health 26, no. 3: 219‐232.

Additional resources:
National Coalition for the Homeless
National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty
National Alliance to End Homelessness
National Center on Family Homelessness
at 12:52 PM Posted by Kyle Lovett
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