Of Boys and Men

Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do About It

De: Richard V. Reeves

Narrado por: Richard V. Reeves

A positive vision for masculinity in a postfeminist world

Boys and men are struggling. Profound economic and social changes of recent decades have many losing ground in the classroom, the workplace, and in the family. While the lives of women have changed, the lives of many men have remained the same or even worsened.

Our attitudes, our institutions, and our laws have failed to keep up. Conservative and progressive politicians, mired in their own ideological warfare, fail to provide thoughtful solutions.

The father of three sons, a journalist, and a Brookings Institution scholar, Richard V. Reeves has spent twenty-five years worrying about boys both at home and work. His new book, Of Boys and Men, tackles the complex and urgent crisis of boyhood and manhood.

Reeves looks at the structural challenges that face boys and men and offers fresh and innovative solutions that turn the page on the corrosive narrative that plagues this issue. Of Boys and Men argues that helping the other half of society does not mean giving up on the ideal of gender equality.

©2022 the Brookings Institution (P)2022 Blackstone Publishing

Big problem no one is addressing

It is a big problem that no one is addressing. This book should be required reading for our humanities and for teachers. This problem with boys is not unexpected. Many have been warning about this for decades, and here we are. Time to wake up.

Informative

I liked the first two thirds of the book in which the author described the problems … not so much his solutions

Interesting and Informative

Well presented arguments for boys and men issues - I get it - I will use this information and spread the word.

Surprising insightful

I was skeptical of this book - but was converted even handed analysis of the challenges that impact boys in the rich world.

Enlightening and balanced

This book walks the line between the left and the right politically, and articulately describes the problem facing boys and men in the education sphere, and proposed cogent solutions

He says the unsaid.

The underlying problems Dr. Reeves discusses are things I have beem noticing for many years, and he is correct that speaking these things out loud will brand you as the wrong kind of person in some circles. Doctor Reeves is not short on suggested fixes. However, I remain skeptical as to their economic viability.

Great explicating the problem with research. Note the reviews!

I read this after I read bell hooks The will to change: Men masculinity and love. Prescient how hooks 20-year-old book now has a lot of research backing most but not all of her claims. I think I’ve been changed intellectually and ethically with the problem that O Boys and men is explicating defining and giving research to. I was not fully understanding what is going on boys and men’s mainstream hegemonic culture. I’m a white cisgender heterosexual man 56 PhD licensed marriage therapist and my work has been characterized by feminist, social justice informed theory intervention and praxis. This book dramatically highlights the problem with a lot of research to back it up. It’s begging for research policy critical awareness, cultural awareness to figure out how to address it all effectively. The book is fairly feminist informed, but could be much more so in my opinion. It’s my sense that feminist masculinity as defined by books and other similar approaches to masculinity from a strong justice perspective is the only hope for theory policy praxis and action.
Make sure you read the core critiques of this book from other readers here and on Goodreads.

Important Word for Our Time

As someone who has spent a career in public education, I see first hand the issue with Boys and Men. While I do not agree with all of the author’s suggestions for improving the situation, I do believe he has correctly identified a major issue and we must be willing to make some changes in how we approach educating boys.

Thank you

Thank you for labor in researching and writing this book. I see the issues my son is currently facing and in the current societal environment it feels as though I am the only one who sees it wrong, or is going insane. This book validates and informs what I observed and I hope to help drive the proposed solutions forward.

Some practical recommendations

The six month leave for both parents is probably only obtainable If there is some type of work each parent can do from home. Some modern government FDR type of new deal program for parents who do not have a job that translates to working from home. Another federal bureaucracy sounds dangerous. I remember that women in Vietnam would give birth in the morning and then be working in the rice fields in the afternoon. some type of modern compromise will be necessary to reverse the low United States fertility rate.