This hasn't dawned on me before, even though I am very fond of Australia - to the point that I am considering how to emigrate there.

I've always decried the double standard in the US press, which we see that when a man is accused of a heinous crime, he is dehumanised by the writers of the article - whereas when a woman is accused, she will be humanised.

Today, I was reading a rather macabre news story out of Australia which talks about the police digging up the remains of a murdered child. One line in this text jumped out at me:

The father of three has signalled he will fight the charges.

I hate to point to only one sentence that is embedded within such a negative article as evidence that Australia might be a better place for men. However, I have found that it's when people are at their weakest that you can see deeply into their true character. If Australian journalists believe that they can give this accused father the benefit of the doubt, even in this case of a heinous child abduction and murder - it speaks very well of the character of the editor and the author.

I have noticed the same trend in New Zealand journalism. Men who have committed (or are committing) very bad crimes are humanised rather than dehumanised by news stories.