Showing posts with label men. Show all posts

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Book Review - Why Men Hate Going to Church

About the Book
It’s Sunday morning. Where are all the men? Golfing? Playing softball? Watching the tube? Mowing the lawn? Sleeping? One place you won’t find them is in church. Less than 40 percent of adults in most churches are men, and 20 to 25 percent of married churchgoing women attend without their husbands. And why are the men who do go to church so bored? Why won’t they let God change their hearts?

David Murrow’s groundbreaking book has been completely revised and updated, with eye-opening research and a persuasive grasp on the facts, to explain the problem and offer hope and encouragement to women, pastors, and men. Why Men Hate Going to Church does not call men back to the church—it calls the church back to men.

My Take on the Book
In reading through this book the author brings up some very good points that relate to men and going to church. I liked the way in which he lays everything out in a clear, easy to understand way, and you learn so much, or at least I did. I like the brutal honesty that he provides and he makes you truly think about your own church and the men within it as well. While I am not a pastor of my church I can easily see that a pastor would find this book very insightful and eye-opening and even for the general church member you will also find this book to be one that will make you rethink your thoughts on membership and engagement within the church as a whole.

All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not influenced in any way by the company. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. Please refer to this site's Disclaimer for more information. I have been compensated or given a product free of charge, but that does not impact my views or opinions.

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Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Book Review - The Book of Man

About the Book
New York Times best-selling author William J. Bennett uses stories, essays, historical vignettes, and contemporary profiles to explore and explain what it means to be a man. Fashioning men has never been easy, but today it seems particularly tough. Boys need heroes to embody the everlasting qualities of manhood: honor, duty, valor, and integrity. Without such role models, boys will naturally choose perpetual childhood over the rigors of becoming a man—as many women, teachers, coaches, employers, and adults in authority can quickly attest. Have we forgotten how to raise men, how to lead our boys into manhood? In The Book of Man, Bennett charts a clearer course, offering a positive, encouraging, uplifting, realizable idea of manhood, redolent of history and human nature, and practical for contemporary life. Like his classic, The Book of Virtues, Bennett uses profiles, stories, letters, poems, and myths to bring his subject to life, defining what a man should be, how he should live, and to what he should aspire in several key areas of life.

My Take on the Book
In reading this book I was impressed and amazed at the vision of manhood that as a reader you receive in this book. Whether it was from the prayers, profiles, letters or the reflections on great men of history, this book will open the eyes of any man or boy as they are trying to figure out for themselves what it means to be a man.

In growing up myself there were few role models on manliness that I could turn to, yes I had my father, but outside of this it was few and far between. A book like this would have been a great read through the times when I was unsure myself of what it meant to be a man, and even now, there are times when you have to question this and this book helps you to figure it out for yourself.

The author examines manhood in so many different context. What was great about the book was that he does this with no pretense and instead provides straight forward ideas towards manliness and whether the stories are inspiring or not, they provide the reader with a fresh glimpse into themselves which is a great fresh approach and opens the eyes of any reader!

All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not influenced in any way by the company. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. Please refer to this site's Disclaimer for more information. I have been compensated or given a product free of charge, but that does not impact my views or opinions.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Men Who Help Out at Home Have Better Relationships

Did you know there might be a connection between helping out at home and helping out your relationship? Studies suggest a link between husbands who help out at home and happier relationships. The Wall Street Journal reported a study from the Journal of Family Issues that shows husbands who do more housework, often have more sex with their spouse. Similarly, Dr. Terri Orbuch, contributing writer for The Huffington Post, has long studied married couples and finds that couples who work together managing the household with a fair division of tasks, are the happiest couples over time.

Since we know so many men are already spending time in the kitchen, ReadySetEat.com and ConAgra Foods are here as a resource and to help make dad “the man with the plan” in the kitchen, offering mealtime solutions, tips and ideas for easy recipes.

Recipes like Easy Chicken Fajitas, Taco-roni and South-of-the-Border Mac and Cheese are simple dinner solutions ready in 30 minutes or less that can be stretched and repurposed throughout the week. Plus, engage the kids in meal preparation with you! Try Mexican Pizza or30-Minute Chili, and give yourself more family time!

Whether it’s a weeknight dinner, packing lunch or snacks for the kids’ soccer team, ReadySetEat provides quick and easy solutions to help dad show off the kitchen skills he already has, and keep him in a happy relationship!

All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not influenced in any way by the company. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. Please refer to this site's Disclaimer for more information. I have been compensated or given a product free of charge, but that does not impact my views or opinions.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Dating A Single Dad: Stats and Top Cities from Match.com

With Father’s Day just around the corner, Match.com is celebrating the single dad with new data it released today on its official blog Up To Date- cause hey- dads need lovin’ too!

Recognizing that not all men are alike, nor are the qualities that attract women to them, Match.com looked at a variety of different types of single fathers -- from the Foodie Dad to the Do-it-Yourself Dad and the beloved Sports-Crazed Dad -- pinpointing the top locations where women can find their ideal single father.

Additionally, they also examined the membership and communication patterns of single dads on Match.com, illuminating new insights about their dating patterns. I’ve included highlights from these top 10 lists and findings below:

30% of male subscribers on Match.com are single dads.
Single dads of all ages are 46% more likely to meet someone on Match.com versus men without children.
Single dads are morning Match.com users – typically logging on over a cup of coffee between 6:00 AM and 9:00 AM more often than the average male member.
Single dads are 56% more likely to email single moms than men without children.
68% of single dads wait at least 3 months before introducing someone they met on Match.com to their kids, and 26% will wait 6 months or more to do so.

For those in search of a man who can whip up a 5-star dinner in his very own kitchen, the top 5 cities for a Foodie Dad:

1.       Scottsdale, AZ
2.       Seattle, WA
3.       San Francisco, CA
4.       Portland, OR
5.       Boise, ID

Looking for a man to finally build you that dream closet you’ve always wanted? The top 5 cities for the Do-it-Yourself Dad:

1.       Spokane, WA
2.       Boise, ID
3.       Sarasota, FL
4.       Vancouver, WA
5.       Toledo, OH

On the hunt for a guy who loves your favorite sports team as much as you do? The top 5 cities for the Sports- Crazed Dad:

1.       Chandler, AZ
2.       Scottsdale, AZ
3.       Milwaukee, WI
4.       Henderson, NV
5.       Charlotte, NC

Additional results, including the full top 10 lists of single dad cities, are available at the Match.com blog, Up to Date.

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Wednesday, June 15, 2011

National Coupon Month: 2010 RedPlum™ Purse String Study

Summary:

Based on the RedPlum Purse String Study consumers across the board are exercising cautious optimism when it comes to spending habits and re-prioritizing how they allocate their savings. Retailers and marketers are taking heed to this consumer behavior. Nearly 2,000 men responded to this survey. The survey was conducted for the third year on redplum.com from July 21 through Aug. 15 and results released in September in conjunction with National Coupon Month.

Basic Necessities:

The shift in consumer spending behavior toward value-oriented habits is apparent in this study. One finding that is striking is that 82 percent of all survey respondents say they use the money they save with coupons on basic necessities or paying down debt (56 percent and 26 percent, respectively). Comparatively, 70% of men said they would use the money saved for basic necessities or paying down debt. While basic necessities still ranked no. 1 among men, 27% also indicated they would use their savings on dining out.

Embracing Value…Even on a First Date:

Consider this: Based on the RedPlum Purse String Study, 74 percent of men said they would use a coupon on a first date at a restaurant and 75 percent of men said they would use a coupon on a first date at the movie theaters. Men should feel even more comfortable using a coupon on a first date; according to the survey an even higher percentage of women deemed it OK ( 78% respectively). Overwhelming, both men and women would outwardly use a coupon on a first date, with a much lower proportion doing so “discreetly.”

What does this say about today’s consumer? In short, shoppers have embraced the mindset toward value. Today’s consumers are adjusting their spending and becoming more strategic in their purchases as deal seeking escalates.

Snapshot of Men and Coupon/Savings Use

“On average, how much money do you save weekly using coupons?”

• 86 percent said they save up to $50 a week.

“How much time did you spend this past week looking for coupons?”

• 87 percent spent up to three hours looking for coupons, deals and savings from all sources.

“What would you do to save 25 percent?”

• 68 percent would fill out an online form.

• 67 percent said they would sign up for an e-newsletter.

• 21 percent said they would do “pretty much anything.”

In addition to groceries, the categories with the highest interest to men are:

• 38 percent dining out, followed by clothing and automotive.

Consumer Confidence

• 42 percent report their family’s financial situation is the same as last year.

• 30 percent are less confident than last year.

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Saturday, January 15, 2011

Guest Post - The Bad Daddy Factor

The Bad Daddy Factor

Drinking, smoking, taking prescription meds or failing to eat a balanced diet can influence the health of men’s future children.

By Emily Anthes

The fathers weren’t supposed to matter. But in the mid-1960s, pharmacologist Gladys Friedler was making all sorts of strange findings. She discovered that when she gave morphine to female rats, it altered the development of their future offspring — rat pups that hadn’t even been conceived yet. What’s more, even these rats’ grandchildren seemed to have problems. In an effort to understand the unexpected result, she made a fateful decision: She would see what happened when she put male rodents on the opiate. So she shot up the rat daddies with morphine, waited a few days, and then mated them with healthy, drug-free females. Their pups, to Friedler’s utter shock, were profoundly abnormal. They were underweight and chronic late bloomers, missing all their developmental landmarks. “It made no sense,” she recalls today. “I didn’t understand it.”

For the next several decades, Friedler tried to understand this finding, ultimately assembling a strong case that morphine, alcohol and other substances could prompt male rodents to father defective offspring. There was only one problem: No one believed her. Colleagues questioned her results — her former adviser urged her to abandon the research — and she struggled to find funding and get her results published. “It didn’t occur to me that you’re not supposed to look at fathers’ roles in birth defects,” Friedler says. “I initially was not aware of the resistance. I was one of the people who was actually naïve enough to work in this field.”
Over the last half-century, as scientists learned more and more about how women could safeguard their developing fetuses — skip the vodka, take your folate — few researchers even considered the possibility that men played a role in prenatal health. It would turn out to be a scientific oversight of significant proportions. A critical mass of research now demonstrates that environmental exposures — from paints to pesticides — can cause men to father children with all sorts of abnormalities. Drinking booze, smoking cigarettes, taking prescription medications and even just not eating a balanced diet can influence the health of men’s future kids. In the several decades since Friedler started her work, the idea that chemicals in a man’s environment can influence the health of his future children has, she says, “moved from lunatic fringe to cutting edge.”
So why don’t we ever hear about it?

As an andrologist, Bernard Robaire has spent his career studying the functions and dysfunctions of the male reproductive system. In the early 1980s, he was giving grand rounds at the McGill University Health Center in Montreal when an oncologist approached him with a question. The oncologist had been treating men with testicular cancer; chemotherapy and radiation were generally expected to render the patients infertile. But lo and behold, tests were showing that, even after the cancer had been licked, some of the men still had viable sperm. The patients had concerns, however: Were the sperm defective? Was it safe for them to have kids? The oncologist, surprised that reproduction was even an option for his patients, had no idea. He put the question to Robaire.

Robaire was equally stumped. He combed through the scientific literature but couldn’t find a clear answer. So he decided to research the question himself. He paired up with a specialist on birth defects, and together they put together an application for a grant to study whether cancer drugs might damage sperm in ways that put men’s future children at risk. They submitted their application to the Medical Research Council, Canada’s equivalent of the National Institutes of Health. “And I had the absolute worst ranking on a grant I’ve ever had in my life,” Robaire recalls today. The scientists reviewing the application rejected it outright. “This makes no sense,” they had written. “How can you expect drugs given to the male to affect the progeny?”
It wasn’t an unreasonable question. There was no obvious physiological mechanism that could explain the connection. It’s the woman who makes her body home to a developing fetus, and damaged sperm were widely thought to be too weak to successfully fertilize an egg. The conventional wisdom, among oncologists, was that anti-cancer drugs would kill sperm, but after stopping treatment, sperm production would begin again — and the germ cells would be normal.

But that’s not what Robaire found. In his early rodent studies, he discovered that chemotherapy agents could degrade the quality of sperm. These sperm were still capable of fertilizing eggs, but the embryos would often spontaneously abort themselves. Among those that actually survived to term, the rodent pups had abnormally slow development. Since then, Robaire has continued to study the effects of chemotherapy drugs on sperm in rodents and humans; some of his most recent work reveals that some men continue to manufacture damaged sperm — with abnormal numbers of chromosomes and breaks in DNA — for as long as two years after their last dose of chemo. “The chemo causes really dramatic damage,” Robaire says.

While Robaire was slogging away, other scientists were quietly accumulating similar evidence. Some of the early work showed that women had more miscarriages when their male partners worked in manufacturing jobs where they were exposed to heavy metals, such as lead and mercury. Men exposed to pesticides were more likely to have children who developed leukemia. (For years, studies have linked Agent Orange, an herbicide used during the Vietnam War, to birth defects in the offspring of veterans, but a causal link has not been definitively established.) Other research suggested that men who worked with solvents, cleaning solutions, dyes and textiles, paints and other chemicals were all more likely to father kids with birth defects or childhood cancers.

Scientists also showed that it didn’t require industrial-strength chemicals to wreak havoc on men’s sperm. Smokers seemed to produce sperm with the wrong number of chromosomes, a DNA error that could lead to miscarriages or Down syndrome. (A stunning 2008 paper revealed that men with deficiencies in folate, that superstar maternal vitamin, had the same problem.) Paternal smoking has also been linked to childhood cancer, and even alcohol and caffeine can cause sperm abnormalities that derail child development.
We now know that what started as an inconceivable mystery — how could men’s environments and lifestyles possibly affect the children they would later father? — has not just one but several answers. Certain substances interfere with the earliest phase of sperm production in the testes, prompting errors in cell division that lead to genetic mutations in immature sperm cells. Chemicals can also cause what are known as epigenetic mutations, which don’t change the DNA sequence itself but alter how the body reads these genetic instructions. Essentially, an epigenetic change involves turning certain genes on or off, telling the body to pay more or less attention to the code they contain. (If genetic changes are akin to changing the lyrics of a song, epigenetic changes are like fiddling with the volume.)

Drugs can also interfere with sperm transport. A 2009 study revealed that a standard dose of paroxetine — the active drug in the antidepressant marketed as Paxil — causes a fivefold increase in the number of men who show evidence of “sperm fragmentation,” which can increase the chances of miscarriage. Researchers have known that certain antidepressants can influence ejaculatory response; it turns out that they seem to slow the transportation of sperm through the male reproductive system, causing the cells to age prematurely. “Sperm are being damaged because they’re not traveling properly through the body,” says Peter Schlegel, who led the study and is a urologist at New York’s Weill Cornell Medical College.

And these findings are just the beginning. Consider, for instance, that there are some 84,000 chemicals used in American workplaces, says Barbara Grajewski, a senior epidemiologist at the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. Only 4,000 of these have even been evaluated for reproductive effects in men or women, and males are particularly understudied. “There’s a whole range of effects in men that really are not being given attention or are well understood,” Grajewski says. “The whole area of men’s reproductive health is way behind women’s health.”

The implications of this research deficit are huge. Some 60 percent of all birth defects today are of unknown origin; tracing even a small fraction of these back to men’s environmental exposures would constitute a major public health advance.

Despite the accumulating findings, the idea that fathers can somehow contribute to birth defects has gained little traction in the public sphere. Cigarette packs have no warnings about the association between male smokers and birth defects. A woman who drinks while she’s pregnant can be prosecuted, but most men have no idea that drinking in the months before conception is risky.

“Why would we not look at the paternal side of the equation? To me that’s really a social and political puzzle,” says Cynthia R. Daniels, a political scientist at Rutgers who studies gender and reproductive politics. “We seem to politically be in a place where we overprotect and over-warn women, but where men and fathers remain almost completely invisible. You’re not likely anytime soon to see signs in bars that say, ‘Men who drink should not reproduce.’”

We still assume that men are secondary partners in reproduction, that their biological contribution to a child is fleeting and ultimately less important than women’s, Daniels says. What’s more, both men and women can find the research threatening. After Friedler organized a scientific symposium on the paternal-fetal connection, she found herself in the elevator with two male colleagues. They turned to her and said, “Why are you picking on men?” On the other hand, when Friedler later had a fellowship at an institute for female scholars, some of the women there challenged her, demanding to know why she was spending so much time researching men. She couldn’t win.

Even when the science is unambiguous, policy seems to lag. For decades, only women were banned from the lead trade, though the evidence suggested the metal could cause stillbirths and fetal problems regardless of which parent had been exposed. Today, federal occupational and health standards protect men from lead, but there are lots of regulations missing for other dangerous compounds.

Consider the well-documented hazard presented by anesthetic gases. The female partners of men who work as dentists, operating room technicians or anesthesiologists are more likely to experience miscarriages. On its website, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has a lengthy document devoted to the hazards presented by anesthetic gases and how companies can protect their workers. But, in a prominent message at the top of the page, the agency comes straight out and says, “These guidelines are not a new standard or regulation, and they create no new legal obligations. The guidelines are advisory in nature. …”

By law, employers are required to provide what are known as “material safety data sheets” that outline the hazards involved in any chemicals their workers might encounter. A team of researchers discovered that these sheets were 18 times more likely to mention risks to female reproduction than male reproduction. To be fair, it’s harder to figure out what to do to protect men. With women, it’s obvious — keep them away from these chemicals during pregnancy. But what do you do with men who are constantly making sperm and could contribute to a pregnancy at any point?

Well, we should start with a thorough review of the evidence, Daniels says, and then establish a commission to develop appropriate policy. It’s also clear more research is needed — particularly research that asks the right questions. The FDA requires that new drugs be tested in rodent models for any potential effects on sperm production. But while these sorts of analyses will reveal whether a drug drastically affects sperm count, they may not show more subtle changes, says Schlegel, who conducted the study on antidepressants. Unless a chemical has “a huge and dramatic effect on sperm numbers, it often can be missed,” he says.

An obvious step toward better fetal health would have obstetricians and gynecologists consider fathers’ chemical exposures when trying to ensure healthy pregnancies and children. Ideally, men would be engaged even earlier, with the government issuing guidelines for young men that deal with environmental toxins and lifestyle choices that might jeopardize the health of future children. The time may be right for more engagement; many occupational health and safety guidelines, for men and women, were loosened by the Bush administration. “I think there’s a great opportunity now to rebuild standards to include risks to male reproductive health,” Daniels says.

There’s a generational opening, too, she says. In recent years, she’s noticed a change in the reaction male college students have to learning about the risks they face. “I’ve found, especially among young men, a sense of outrage and alarm,” Daniels reports. “They say, ‘How could this be? How could it be that no one has ever suggested to me that alcohol might have an impact on my ability to have healthy children?’ They’re angry that they don’t know about this.”

All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not influenced in any way by the company. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. Please refer to this site's Disclaimer for more information. I have been compensated or given a product free of charge, but that does not impact my views or opinions.

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Friday, July 23, 2010

Save 20% off shaving products for dad!

Thought you all would be interested in a chance to get 20% off premium shaving products from The Art of Shaving from now until Sunday. Start by signing up for the Art of Shaving email newsletter through the below link, and you will receive a special email which allows you to enjoy the discount, as well as other promotional offers from The Art of Shaving.
https://www.theartofshaving.com/friendsfamily/

All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not influenced in any way by the company. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. Please refer to this site's Terms of Use for more information. I have been compensated or given a product free of charge, but that does not impact my views or opinions.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Dove Men+Care 2010 Super Bowl Ad & Giveaway!

The Manthem commercial follows the journey from birth to fatherhood celebrating the moments when a man is comfortable with himself.

Dove Men + Care celebrates one particular man’s moment of total comfort, featuring Drew Brees from the New Orleans Saints celebrating the arrival of total comfort as he achieves his life-long dream. Did you see Drew holding his baby immediately after winning the game? He himself embodies the Dove man who’s comfortable in his own skin.

Dove Men+Care 2010 Super Bowl Ad @ Yahoo! Video

My Take On The Products
I was very happy to have the opportunity to try out Dove's new products for men. Dove Men+Care products are formulated specifically for men like me who spend our days focusing on on others. Instead, these products allow men to indulge in themselves for at least a short amount of time, and instead we can leave behind the tiaras, hotwheels and other such toys that we find ourselves engrossed in much of the other times in our lives with kids.

I was impressed by the scent of the products and how thoroughly the products cleansed and refreshed myself after using them. The products produce a great lather and the scent, while not too strong, stayed with me for some period of time which was adequate for me.

Overall, these are products that I would recommend to any man or woman looking to get something unique for a man.

Giveaway

How would you like to win a some Mens+ Care products for yourself? I will be giving away 1 complete set to a lucky reader! All you need to do is let me know why you would have an interest in these products to be considered. The contest will run for one week and will end on March 1, 2010.

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All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not influenced in any way by the company. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. Please refer to this site's Terms of Use for more information. I have been compensated or given a product free of charge, but that does not impact my views or opinions.

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