Warren Farrell

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Warren Farrell (b. 1943) is an American writer controversial because of his views on gender politics and power.

Farrell holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science (UCLA; New York University (NYU)). He taught at the School of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego, and at Georgetown University, Rutgers, Brooklyn College, and American University.

With the publication of The Myth of Male Power, Farrell became one of the first masculinists. The term is difficult to precisely define, but in his case masculinism is a form of celebrating men as no less than women, and rejecting the sexism displayed against men by women. In the early 1970s, he was a champion of feminism, serving on the board of the New York chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW). Within a few years, he was asked to leave NOW as his views diverged from those generally held in the organization; most specifically, he was critical of what he saw as female exclusiveness and disregard for men's issues. His early books The Liberated Man and Why Men Are the Way They Are were more in the vein of a type of men's liberation – an approach to men's issues similar to that of feminism to women's issues. These texts were not critical of feminism.

Farrell's critics declare him to be sexist and have an anti-woman attitude (or misogynistic). However, despite his being broadly attacked by many latter-day feminists including Susan Faludi, it is interesting to note that on no occasion have any of his critics agreed to debate him face-to-face, including any members of NOW, preferring to write about him in the popular press.[citation needed] In answering his critics, Farrell argues that his approach is essentially of equality and humanism.

His approach to gender issues has come to be the cornerstone of masculism. His ideology calls for gender equivalence and, unlike many other masculists, a reduction in traditional gender roles. He has made a critical examination of the power imbalance between the sexes, claiming that it heavily favors women: "The women's movement had done a wonderful job of freeing women from sex roles, but no one did the same for men".

Farrell was a candidate for governor in the 2003 California recall election. He came ninety-seventh out of 135 candidates.

On May 27, 2005 Farrell appeared on John Stossel's "Give Me A Break" segment of 20/20 to discuss, in his view, why men earn more. In the report he is seen speaking before the Cato Institute. He asked members of the audience to stand if they worked at least two years at a job meeting certain criteria: jobs which exposed them to wind and rain or long hours, for example. It was almost entirely men who stood.

Of course the Cato Institute event had been staged to promote Farrell's books and opinions. Nonetheless, the event served to illustrate one of Farrell's key points- that women tend to choose, and are generally encouraged by the popular press to choose, jobs that are socially fulfilling rather than monetarily fulfilling. For instance, men are encouraged to work well-paid, long-hours jobs, women encouraged to search for roles that allow them more time with their children or are seen as socially pleasant, involving little physical labour or serious physical unpleasantless. These roles, across the board, tend to be paid less than the former. In addition, men are more likely to do overtime (and are of course encouraged to do so) than women, so necessarily get paid for more hours worked.

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