The War Against Boys: How Misguided Policies are Harming Our Young Men

The author writes (p. 199): "The public has given no one a mandate to pursue a policy of privileging girls." And yet, as Christina Hoff Sommers repeats in the revised edition of her 2000 book, a small group of ideological feminists have claimed that Americans should do that, and from many quarters there is evidence that they have. This "New and Revised Edition" of "THE WAR AGAINST BOYS" is a welcome return of an important book. Sommers, a philosopher by education and a mother of two boys, shows that the trend she identified in the late 1990s to see boys as defective girls and therefore somehow in need of retooling has continued, and its effects have spread. The importance of Sommers' book lies especially in pointing out the misrepresentations of fact by leading advocates of making over boyhood. She takes to task the reputation of a major research institution for having missed oversight of assertions presumably based on scientific investigation that are, in fact, wishful thinking on the part of high-profile faculty. Her target is Carol Gilligan in particular, who managed to convince important activists, journalists and others in the media about the presumed defectiveness of boys that results from the dominance of patriarchy in American society. Go to this book if you are a parent. Take it to school administrators especially if your children are in grade school but realize that contempt for men and masculinity is now pervasive in higher education as well. If you are paying $50,000+ a year for a son's education, check out what courses are being taught that are disparage the young men in class. Sommers is a feminist in the way anyone who is clear-thinking is a feminist: someone who supports women in having access to education and employment opportunities of every kind. She is, however, a potent opponent of ideological feminists (contemporary "gender equity" feminists). As Sommers points out, regardless of the claims of social constructivists, boys and girls are different, and they cannot be refashioned to feel and experience and act in ways that are not part of their disposition (her word). There are biobehavioral realities that are well-documented but simply ignored by a small group of feminists (male and female) who insist loudly that even the possibility of basic differences between the sexes exist. She is a fan of masculinity in the traditional sense. It is pretty obvious that so are MOST women, too. Sommers provides examples of schools that harm boys and schools that support them. She points out that federal government opposes many initiatives in public and private schooling that would support boys in their growing up. She notes that in Australia and the UK such efforts to do better by boys are under way, but they are nipped in the bud in the States, mostly by virtue of the threat of law suits. She points to the complicity of all three branches of the federal government in standing in the way of even trying boy-friendly practices in school. Finally, she repeats that the tendency of thinking of boys as somehow psychologically ill as a result of being raised as their bodies tell them they must experience the world must be distinguished from the consequence of real harm suffered by boys in an environment that tells them there is something wrong with them for being boys. This is an important book for speaking out on behalf of boys and cutting through the rhetoric and false claims of so-called gender specialists who have taken over academe and whose pronouncements resound in the echo chamber (her metaphor) of the media.

A well-researched book that was originally subtitled "How Misguided Feminism Is Harming Our Young Men." Despite the political incorrectness of the original subtitle, Sommers' claims are hard to dispute as they are backed up by empirical data published in peer-reviewed journals. Essentially, Sommers dismantles the popular perception that girls need help in our educational system because they are being held back by a patriarchal society that favors boys and men. On the contrary, that kind of ideology, lacking empirical evidence as Sommers shows, is directly responsible for the rapid decline in the academic performance of boys over the last few decades. Girls are thriving. Boys are not. Yet, very little is being done to help boys because such help is viewed as part of a zero sum game that would deprive girls. It is high time that gender politics are excised from our educational system. We should focus on helping all children, not just girls. We need to reevaluate what is best for society. In today's gender climate, many boys are being pathologized for exhibiting typical boy behavior. Despite what some ideologues believe, innate gender differences exist. It would be truly remarkable that, in evolutionary terms, selective pressures would shape and mold every part of human anatomy except one organ - the brain. Given that each sex has its own reproductive strategy, it stands to reason that the brain, which governs behavior, should have acquired behavioral instincts that support each evolved reproductive strategy. Each gender makes unique contributions that historically has allowed our species, as a whole, to thrive. It is time to accept and embrace gender differences in an effort to discover what works best for all children. Ideologies that privilege one sex over another or pathologize normal behavior need to be met with skepticism.

This book details how feminists in the US have used fraudulent research, claiming girls to be in crisis when they are not and in fact it is boys who are being outperformed, to get special programs in schools for their own political ends. The book also shows how feminists are interfering with boys normal harmless play. The author shows the type of behaviour that does cause harm in boys. As is happens when Tony Blair was the UK prim minister he pointed out research that shows that boys who play with boys stereotyped toys, including to toy guns, in pre school and primary school do better academically. You would think that better educated boys would be less violent rather than more. Sommers points out the general types of educational settings that give better behaviour and academic results in boys including more guided learning and stricter discipline. As it happens I was studying maths in the mid 1990's in Australia and our lecturers had to have a special meeting of all the maths students because the ability of maths and engineering students had fallen so badly in the previous 15 years. This happens to be the time when girls school and university marks went from behind to ahead of boys. That there should be a large overall reduction in ability when half the population has improved so much is hard to understand and is more like the legitimate advantages of boys are not being taught or assessed properly. Also during this time, and earlier, work kept being removed from high school science, such as parts of the REDOX and carbon chemistry electives for final year chemistry in 1984, and in every case girls marks improved. Also while I was studying maths the state education minister Virginia Chadwick said the words "Boys read maps better, so we changed them." Boys tend to get the specific thing from the whole better due to their spatial advantage, say, which is a legitimate part of real world activity. This has lead to question types to be created that are designed to get answers right, say by being more discrete, rather than including legitimate cognitive areas thus improving girls marks I think the deliberate hindering of boys in school has lead to the above mentioned poor ability in the areas historically done well by boys in universities causing universities to have to dumb down the work where girls have had their problems as universities don't want high a failure rates. In 1994 all students where I studied were told that there would be a failure restriction of .15% in all classes with 30 or more in the class due to federal government funding changes. The maths degree did not have a single compliant subject although 15 years earlier before the girls improved at school and university as much the maths people would not have had a problem with this failure restriction. When I did data structures only 30% of the class passed, all the girls failed, then the next time they had to pass 85%.

Passionate and well argumentated book about how actually boys are the ones discriminated and mistreated in schools and education. Parents may recognize some situations on their sons by first hand

Cet ouvrage n'est pas destiné aux amateurs du politiquement correct ni aux défenseurs invétérés du féminisme. Mais à ceux curieux des tendances profondes qui influencent l'évolution de notre société. L'auteur, professeur de philosophie pendant 15 ans, écrivit ce livre à la fin des années 1990, puis l'a repris dans une nouvelle édition, afin de mettre à jour notamment les études scientifiques sur lesquelles elle s'était appuyée en premier lieu. Elle évolue dorénavant au sein de l'American Enterprise Institute, plutôt proche de l'aile réaliste du parti républicain. Ce livre aborde la manière dont le système éducatif américain, après une longue évolution débutée dans les années 1980, a progressivement rendu la vie de plus en plus difficile aux garçons à l'école. Bien que centré sur les Etats-Unis, le livre évoque également la Grande-Bretagne et l'Australie, et ses leçons sont tout à fait valides pour la France (bien que les chiffres soient différents bien entendu). L'auteur évoque tout d'abord les nombreux programmes fédéraux américains développés en matière d'éducation au cours des 30 dernières années qui ont, et souvent à juste titre, largement favorisé et soutenu la progression des jeunes femmes au sein du système scolaire et universitaire afin de compenser le désavantage historique dont elles avaient souffert. Bien que reconnaissant un certain mérite à ces programmes, l'auteur tient à mettre en exergue très vite les conséquences néfastes, voire parfois désastreuses, que ces réformes du système scolaire américain ont eu sur les garçons. C'est à ce titre, en documentant très sérieusement ses assertions, qu'elle dénonce les manigances d'une partie du lobby féministe, totalement sourd à ce drame. L'auteur démontre scrupuleusement comment les jeunes garçons sont vite stigmatisés dans un environnement éducatif devenu extrêmement féminisé, tant au regard du personnel qu'au regard des valeurs qui y sont désormais véhiculées. Elle s'indigne du fait que les garçons risquent de devenir très rapidement le 2ème sexe, alors même que le lobby féminin et les hommes politiques à sa botte continuent de faire la sourde oreille, et continuent de ne se préoccuper que de l'avancement des jeunes femmes. L'auteur dénonce, dans la logique des débats sur la théorie du genre qui animent les cercles universitaires américains, mais également français, la volonté de certaines féministes de changer la nature masculine. S'appuyant sur du bon sens, et armée d'arguments incisifs, Christina Hoff Summers jette un véritable pavé dans la mare pour prendre la défense de la vaste entreprise d'émasculation entreprise à l'encontre de nos jeunes garçons, et pour défendre une société où hommes et femmes évolueraient à égalité, dans le respect des différences de chacun. A rapprocher, bien que très différent dans l'approche, du livre "Nos garçons en danger" du psychologue français Stéphane Clerget. Enfin, la version Kindle est impeccable.

Have you noticed that a lot of our media is hostile towards men and boys? Entertainment, academia, advertising, you name it. Men and boys are portrayed badly. Have you also noticed that our attitudes towards men and boys are noticeably more mean spirited? Schools, college campus, gyms, workplaces, you name it. Men and boys are regarded poorly. But this isn't a new problem. It's older than you might think. Christina Hoff Somers, among others, saw the warning signs decades ago. Today, we're seeing the results of this unchecked misandry. If you're like me, in that you suspected something is very wrong here, then you chose a good place to start. Men and boys are in crisis and only a handful of people are willing to step up to the plate to address the crisis. Christina Hoff Somers is one of those people. Her work sheds light on how we got here, how far crisis has advanced and what to expect as the crisis continues. Read this book if you want to understand how we got here.

Whilst a review is, by nature, subjective, one has to say that if you have not awarded this outstanding treatise five stars, then you have probably either missed the point or possess insufficient intellectual faculty to conceive and rationalise the truth Hoff Sommers presents herein; which is essentially nothing short of a Doctoral thesis. In reality the laymen seldom reads academia and so that could detract somewhat from what is ultimately a compelling and above all a flawlessly researched academic text. Although the text is, itself a little old, the central thesis and conjecture undoubtedly remain as relevant today as it was when it first hit the press nearly a decade ago, back in 2000. That thesis being that feminist (female supremacists, as they should be called) will stop at nothing to advance their perverse agenda. Be it distorting the facts, engaging in 'truthiness' or whatever means are employed to justify the end. This text gives an impartial blow-by-blow account of the methods, the movement and the main protagonists in what is ultimately a fascistic and wholly repugnant charade that masquerades as a genuine concern movement which has the concern of girls at its heart. What it fact has at its core is a manifesto of supremacy and domination, playing God with Darwinian evolution and the history of biological development. Without revealing too much to the potential reader, all I should say is please read this text, check the research and the references for yourselves, do some further research and read a few more texts. Then with a clear head and a clear heart arrive at your own conclusion. A conclusion which any sane individual (who is devoid of an agenda) will reach, arriving at a place called disbelief. I also recommend that any educator read this text, to see how you may be unwittingly contributing to the greater problem by your personal pedagogical philosophy and approach to classroom management. I personally found chapter eight 'The Moral Life of Boys' to be a real treat, This book works for a number of reasons, amongst which I would include the following: i) It is flawlessly researched ii) Hoff Sommers is a REAL academic, a real intellectual who, despite also having an agenda, is clearly sane and rational in her conclusions and suggestions. iii) Its structure, cohesion and central thesis are all articulate and concisely presented, the author is professional and largely impartial. iv) It is relevant to anyone who has a child, especially a male child. v) It will make the reader think and consider what they have just read and hopefully want to go out and validate those arguments. To conclude, this is a superb book, an outstanding argument coherently and concisely put forth. Although it is real academia it is a quick read and does not alienate the non-academic reader.