LETTER:A plague on us

From Dr Frank Furedi

Sir: Helen Wilkinson's perceptive account of the growing attraction of the status of victimhood for men and other groups in society (2 January) raises wider questions about contemporary political culture. If we are not the victims of the National Lottery, then it is only a matter of time before BSE will strike us down.

Life has become a plague of abuses. From child to elderly abuse - we are victims of circumstances beyond our control. Naturally, everyone is in need of some form of counselling.

The very breadth of this celebration of passivity suggests that what is at stake is a process that goes way beyond recent changes in gender roles. The fear of tackling problems leads society to the sort of evasions that revel in victimhood. It is a political culture that offers helplines, "self-help" groups and therapy instead of alternatives. The problem is not the crisis of masculinity but a diminished humanity.

Yours,

Frank Furedi

Department of Sociology

University of Kent

Canterbury