on the exercise bike this afternoon. I wondered if Broadsheet would write about it. I thought it would be a good moment for Broadsheet to stand up for what is clearly right: trying to help the unhealthier half of humans, men. But, as I suspected, we get this post. I wonder if any feminists anywhere are concerned about the health of a male family member.

considering the wage gap and the costs of private health care, maybe we do deserve more money for the same work.

I think that's a fantastic, constructive idea: using men's tendency to care about their sex drives to prevent other health problems

And we could incorporate health checkups into manicures to help women's health.

I really try to approach this column fairly, but I constantly see cries of "Misogyny! Misogyny! Misogyny!" while the column is laced with example after example of misandry. When a report comes out that men are paid more than women, it's an unacceptable inequality that must be redressed. When a report comes out that men die earlier, there's no need for a gender war? Either you're for addressing the inequalities between the sexes, or you're simply for increasing your piece of the pie. Which is it?

All the "social causes" you list strike me the same way that the "social causes" of pay disparity strike you. How is this any different from that issue?

The fact that more attention in the last few decades is being to women's health does mean less attention is paid to men's health. I just don't think this is a bad thing. If anything it's probably restoring some balance to what was over an overemphasis on men's health to the detriment of women. Given that there are limited resources, tradeoffs will always have to be made. The question is has the pendulum swung too far? I personally doubt it, but that's a matter for study.

We already have the equivalent of a "Viagra check". You must see the GYN to get birth control. You must get a pap smear and breast check to get that peice of paper. I've been getting butt naked and trying to feel civilized while chatting in a paper smock since I was 15! I joke that they get you either way since prescription BC is the only really effective type. That means you get the speculum to prevent pregnancy or if you are pregnant. Manicure check, my ass!

Women use far more health care at all stages of their lives yet men live 4-5 years less. Men pay the same premiums for health insurance but cost the system less. Men also pay more in taxes. Men also take most of the dangerous jobs in society, travel away from home, and work outdoors. I think it is time to stop slopping the trough.

...it is that health care - for everyone - needs to be seen in the US as a basic human right, and not a revenue center for insurance carriers, who routinely raise the costs of coverage while actively seeking to deny payment for any reason imaginable.

And this holds true for men, women, and children nationwide. It is inherently unhealthy to be any sort of human being in the 21st Century United States. That must change.

What an awesome goal!

According to the website, “The Partnership for Gender-Specific Medicine at Columbia is dedicated to learning more about the differences in women's and men's normal physical function and the unique ways in which each sex experiences disease.”

There’s also a neat little quiz on how diseases/issues can manifest differently in men and women. http://partnership.hs.columbia.edu/quiz.html

Women’s health matters (or it should) to men. Men’s health matters (or it should) to women. It’s not a competition issue. It’s about recognizing that diseases can manifest themselves differently in men and women, that medications can function differently, and that some health problems affect one sex more so than the other. Unless you’re a sadist, women don’t win when men’s health suffers and men don’t win when women’s health suffers.

So, women, encourage your men to go in for a check-up (actually, doctors sometimes try to reach men via the women in their lives) and recognize that men often show depression differently than women. And men, help your lady do her monthly breast exam; learn that women experience different symptoms from men when they have a heart attack.

Also, Let’s not distort the Wall Street Journal article. Although the WSJ article does say, “some experts question whether the intense focus on women has had the unintended result of allowing men's health issues to slide,” that’s only one tiny bit of the article. I really hate the use of the term “some experts,” but the rest of the article is pretty fair and informative.

If women didn't take an active interest in men's health, there would be a lot more dead and sick men. We make you guys go to the doctor when you don't want to go. We tell you to take your medicine and remind you to refill your prescriptions. We badger you to get blood tests, prostate exams, and other screening tests. We keep a good many men alive and healthy a lot longer than they would manage on their own.

Instead of moaning about attention being paid to women's health, you guys should pay attention to your own health. And see a doctor once in a while. It isn't going to kill you.

And mikes pace and co. seem to be about the whiniest letter writers I've seen in a while on this page. Did you even read the article? BEHAVIOR seems to blame for the age gap in men, making it even more of a shame that you "pay more taxes" and "take the hardest jobs." There is no inherent reason for men to live shorter lives than stupidity and laziness. Excuse me now, but I've got to get a manicure...

The Office on Women's Health was created in 1991 because research had abundantly proved that there already was, in essence, an Office on Men's Health: Medical research was, by default, skewed toward men.

Exactly what I was thinking.