Of Boys And Men

Gabi's Review 

With Fathers’ Day coming up this weekend, I wanted to consider a book that celebrates men. One which recognises the challenges currently faced by men and boys in an evolving culture, and which seeks to find solutions that will enable them, indeed all of us, to flourish.  Richard Reeves’ Of Boys and Men is a wise and timely choice.

Reeves’ starting point is the recognition that traditional versions of masculinity must be urgently addressed if men’s economic, psychological and social problems are to be resolved. In the light of huge structural changes such as the increasing use of offshore processing and automation, working-class men suffer declining wages, job losses and little or no assistance in transitioning to work in the service industries. All of which has led to an alarming increase in male suicides. Middle-class men are falling behind in education: data shows that 100 women receive a bachelor’s degree for every 74 men. While it is a victory that women are finally thriving with support, it is entirely unacceptable men are being left behind.

The disadvantages facing men have led to the rise of the online 'manosphere' which blames feminism for men’s problems, and fans the flames of their justifiable sense of grievance around exclusion from social progress. Popular media figures promoting a brand of hyper- or toxic masculinity actively prevent us all from seeking and implementing real solutions to problems that require structural changes. It gets scary when these ideas are co-opted for political ends translating into legislation banning access to reproductive rights for women for example.  We need of a picture of positive masculinity that recognises inherent male strengths and virtues; we need each other after all.

Reeves proposals include boys starting school a year later than girls; a focus on streaming the transition of men into caring professions; rethinking traditional ideas of fatherhood; creating mentors; and encouraging the greater involvement of men in community and educational activities. Reeves’ call for empathy, understanding and a willingness to find solutions is a welcome antidote to those seeking to exploit and weaponise men’s sense of grievance for their own economic and social advantage. If you want to be part of the solution not the noise, this book is one for you. Happy Fathers’ Day, Dads everywhere. We owe you so much.

Publisher's Review 

A Book of the Year 2022 in The Economist and Daily Mail.

'One of the most important non-fiction books of the year' - Sunday Times

Boys are 50% more likely than girls to fail at all three key school subjects: maths, reading and science.

In the US, the wages of most men are lower today than they were in 1979, while women's wages have risen across the board.

In the UK, suicide is the biggest killer of men under the age of 45.

Boys are falling behind at school and college because the educational system is structed in ways that put them at a disadvantage. Men are struggling in the labour market because of an economic shift away from traditionally male jobs. And fathers are dislocated because the cultural role of family provider has been hollowed out. The male malaise is not the result of a mass psychological breakdown, but of deep structural challenges.

Structural challenges require structural solutions, and this is what Richard V. Reeves proposes in Of Boys and Men - starting boys at school a year later than girls; getting more men into caring professions; rethinking the role of fatherhood outside of a nuclear family context.

Feminism has done a huge amount of good in the world. We now need its corollary - a positive vision of masculinity that is compatible with gender equality.