THE ATTACK ON FATHERHOOD

On Disposable Fatherhood: "Men are now being scolded for failing to shoulder the collective responsibility of a declining birthrate. But why should men be interested in fathering children? Confronted with the very strong societal message that children do fine without fathers, is it so surprising that some men decide the risks of having children are just too high? Every week we see pregnant celebrities flaunting their decision to bear children on their own. There are howls of outrage when governments try to confine access to IVF services to families with fathers."

One of the reasons that so many women can't find a husband is that millions of men have declared a Marriage Strike. Men believe that family courts have become so unfair that in case of divorce, they will lose custody of their children and their ex will take them for all they're worth.

American injustice: "A parent pulled into divorce court against his will also must submit to questioning about his private life, questioning that Abraham has characterized as an "interrogation." He can be forced to surrender personal diaries, correspondence, financial records, and other documents normally protected by the Fourth Amendment. His personal habits, movements, conversations, writings, and purchases are subject to inquiry by the court. His home can be entered by government agents. His visits with his children can be monitored and restricted to a "supervised visitation center." Anything he says to his spouse or children as well as to family counselors and personal therapists can be used against him in court, and his children can be used to inform on his compliance. Fathers are asked intimate questions about how they "feel" about their children, what they do with them, where they take them, how they kiss them, how they feed and bathe them, what they buy for them, and what they discuss with them. According to Abraham, fathers against whom no evidence of wrongdoing is presented are ordered to submit to "plethysmographs," a physical-response test in which an electronic sheath is placed over the penis while the father is forced to watch pornographic films of children... A parent who refuses to cooperate can be summarily incarcerated or ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.... In family court, it is not unusual for a father earning $35,000 a year to amass $150,000 in attorney's fees... One of the most astonishing practices of family courts is ordering fathers to pay the fees of attorneys, psychotherapists, and other officials they have not hired and summarily jailing them for not complying."

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