ABSTRACT
Equal opportunities agendas are based on the diametrically opposed assumption that competition from women at work is good for men. Working women may even have some edge over men who are valued providers. There are many practical difficulties they face fitting in domestic duties; but there is a sense in which it is very hard for them to fail. The standard feminist line on equal opportunities is that competition from women in the workplace will motivate men to try that much harder to be good fathers and providers. In reality the outcomes at both ends of the job market seem to be bad for the community, as in each case it makes it easier for men to avoid their moral responsibilities. Male marginality is far more than an economic phenomenon, and involves an interplay between a variety of cultural, personal and material factors.
