Sir, – In an opinion piece on men’s maladies (“Enoch Burke is someone I’d like to hug”, November 11th), Joe Humphreys writes: “Ultimately, men just want to be loved – or, at least, to know they’re not completely unloved. They need a shoulder to cry on when they screw up, and they want reassurance that they’re not weird for being deeply insecure.”
Can you imagine the ruaille buaille that would ensue if somebody wrote this about women? Indeed, it would be fully justified, as it’s a deeply patronising analysis. There are many problems facing men today (as there are many problems facing women) and most of them can’t be solved by a shoulder to cry on, as important as that can be.
Regarding Enoch Burke, Joe Humphreys has this to say: “He reminds me of many young men who go through a phase of extreme religiosity before they eventually grow out of it.” This is a very dismissive attitude toward a man who (whatever your view of his opinions) has taken a very principled stand for the sake of his beliefs, entailing great personal sacrifice.
Your columnist writes: “I don’t know him from Adam but I’d like to give him a hug – I feel he could do with one.”
Ann Ingle: Deliberately going out of my way to move for no particular reason has never appealed to me
Gerry Thornley: How about an alternative look at Ireland’s Six Nations win over England?
Is Ireland anti-Semitic, an outlier of tolerance or in the middle ground?
How risky is it to buy a second-hand EV?
Somehow, I’m guessing that Enoch Burke isn’t too eager to be hugged by Irish Times opinion writers.
Hasn’t the man suffered enough? – Is mise,
MAOLSHEACHLANN Ó CEALLAIGH,
Dublin 4.
