This article in the NZ Herald today reports on the funeral of yet another male forestry worker and tells us that 183 ‘workers’ and ‘people’ were seriously injured and 3 killed in forestry last year. My letter to the journalist was as follows:

Dear Kirsty

Re ‘Forestry worker farewelled at tangi’ 01/07/12

Although we applaud the fact that you highlighted the number of deaths and serious injuries in the forestry industry, we regret that you chose not to mention that, apart from the man currently being buried, all the victims you referred to were men. Instead, you used only words like ‘workers’ and ‘people’, effectively
hiding their gender and the fact that men contribute almost 100% of workplace deaths and the vast majority of serious workplace accidents year after year.

Sadly, you will be just as likely to produce an article next week supporting feminist complaints that women earn about 12% less on average for the kinds of jobs they do, without any mention of the ultimate sacrifice that so many men make in the jobs they do. Or that men overwhelmingly undertake the most
dangerous, dirty, uncomfortable, body-wrecking work required to provide the infrastructure of our privileged lifestyle.

Yours sincerely

Hans Laven
Chief Executive
Ministry of Men’s Affairs