From: vision.org
Boys are being socially reengineered. In the process, they have become victims of misguided sexual politics.
So says Christina Hoff Sommers in her book The War Against Boys: How Misguided Feminism Is Harming Our Young Men (2000). She is a W.H. Brady Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., and holds a doctorate in philosophy from Brandeis University. As the title of her book suggests, Sommers asserts that the feminist movement, working through the education system, has been waging nothing less than a war against boys in the belief that they must level the playing field for girls.
Vision contributor Thomas Fitzpatrick asked Sommers to enlarge on her views about the upbringing of boys.
TF When Rex Harrison sang “Why Can’’t a Woman Be More Like a Man?†in My Fair Lady, it seemed amusing and entertaining. Throughout previous generations, the genders have longed to better understand each other. However, what you describe is something altogether differentâ€â€Âeven insidious. Are you saying that there is a calculated and concerted effort underway to redefine masculinity for future generations?
CHS Yes, the “gender theorists†in schools of education and the activists in women’s groups are powerful allies in pursuing this dubious goal. They acknowledge that it’s too late to change adult men. However, they believe that boys can be salvaged if they are rescued from being wrongly “masculinized.†Thus the need for a movement to reconstruct boyhood, to produce boys who will be less competitive, more emotionally expressive, more nurturingâ€â€Âsimply put, more like girls. For more than a decade these activists have engaged in an effort to overhaul how boys are brought to manhood. They are convinced that breaking down male stereotypes, starting in preschool, is good for society.
TF You have been quoted as saying, “We may be the first society in history to turn against its males.†What factors have caused our culture to take the unprecedented step of declaring war on masculinity?
CHS Very simply, boys have become politically incorrect. They are thought to be insensitive and prone to violence. They tend to like action, competition, roughhousing; and they don’t spend a lot of time talking about their feelings. This worries many people. A group of psychologists, most notably at Harvard, have convinced themselves that boys need to be rescued from their masculinity. At the same time, hard-line feminists are persuaded that unless we intervene at the earliest possible age to change the way boys are being socialized, women and girls remain in danger and continue to be “oppressed under patriarchy.†My book shows that both these groupsâ€â€Âthe gender warriors and the New England psychologistsâ€â€Âhave been remarkably successful in promoting their male-averse policies and programs in the schools. In the meantime, boys are not getting the help they really need. Too many of them are academically and ethically neglected.
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August 23rd, 2005 at 2:36 pm
The harm that has been done to women can never be repaired completely. Most women never completely own themselves because the patriarchy is so deeply entrenched that most women never fully mature. That men may have to embrace some compromises to help right this wrong is only the tip of the iceberg regarding what needs to be done to correct the male primate’s desire to dominate without apology all females that come within his sphere. If the world should ever come to be a place where women can beat and kill their men if they feel like it, without penalty only then will the pendulem have swung too far.
August 24th, 2005 at 12:26 am
“The inspiring display of male heroism on September 11 should lead the
gender warriors to soften their negative attitudes toward boys and men.”
I sincerely hope the author was not implying that the only heroes on September 11 were male. I would direct any interested readers to the following website to learn more about the women who risked (and in some cases lost) their lives at Ground Zero: http://www.womenatgroundzero.com/Pages/Project.html
August 24th, 2005 at 1:06 am
Neither TF nor CHS seems to realise that gender values are always socially constructed – this isn’t a marginal sociological theory, but the very stuff of social and critical theory. There is no such thing as “masculinity” apart from particular ways of being masculine in particular societies at particular times. Of course gender construction builds on given sexual traits, including behavioural tendencies. But the incredible variety of gender (and family) models around the world is incontrovertible. It’s hard to believe that CHS has a PhD in philosophy: her discourse is full of straw men and other tools of distraction that she should have learned to identify and avoid way back in Logic 101.
Tim Behrend
Auckland, NZ
August 24th, 2005 at 2:15 am
Barbara,
So what of the millions of men out there who have not been guilty of the “crime” you speak of? Are they (we) to automatically pay for the sins of those who have crossed the line before us?
Andrea ,
I sincerely hope the author was not implying that the only heroes on September 11 were male.
No. I think you read that into it.
Tim,
gender values are always socially constructed
Could you elaborate?
August 24th, 2005 at 1:55 pm
If there’s any evidence that boys are less competitive, more emotionally expressive, and/or more nurturing, I haven’t seen it. And what’s wrong with that? Nothing , as far as I can tell. Even for boys? Yup. Never hurt me, and I am also quite ambitious and assertive. In fact, it helps one be more effective in getting things done.
Nor do I accept that this trijnity of character traits is inherently “female” any more than aggression is “male.” The inherent male/female differences are technical and complex, things like spatial orientation and the like, not this pop psych hoohah.
I see no war against boys, but as the father of a 9 year old girl, I can assure you it is all but impossible to find, as a matter of course, stories, games, toys, and role models that are women. Try buying a science toy for a kid. You may be able to find one or two that show a girl, but you won’t find any that show only girls – note the plural. You will find plenty that show only boys. And it goes on and on and on in nearly every area of child socialization.
August 24th, 2005 at 3:24 pm
Then I invite you to take a look at the large amount of boys that have been misdiagnosed of having ADHD as one of many examples.
Nor do I accept that this trijnity of character traits is inherently “female†any more than aggression is “male.†The inherent male/female differences are technical and complex, things like spatial orientation and the like, not this pop psych hoohah.
As far as what you accept as reality is up to you. The fact of the matter is that boys BY NATURE are more aggressive than women. Being “male” or “female” is more than just a state of mind, it is something that has already been set in place by nature. Aggressiveness these days has become a bad word in many circles. Using your argument, the only reason why we do not see more women playing in the NFL (for example) is simply because men have stopped them from doing it.
…but as the father of a 9 year old girl, I can assure you it is all but impossible to find, as a matter of course, stories, games, toys, and role models that are women.
Strange! I too am a father of a girl (and a boy) and I never had a problem finding female role models for her– government, family, friends, etc. Have you taken the time to watch most children’s programing? Although the male may be the lead character in most cases, it is the female character that usually has the smarts to save the day (As one who closely monitors what my kids watch–not at all suggesting here that you don’t ’cause I do not know you–, I can provide for you plenty of examples if you are interested). If you are that serious about finding strong women role models, I will be more than happy to assist you—unless of course you was just trying to make a baseless point.
Another area you may want to investigate is the current welfare system that makes it more beneficial for the single mom to stay single than for her to get married.
Yeah, there are plenty of examples.
August 24th, 2005 at 8:20 pm
The fact is that males and females are different.
And thank God that we are!
However the left of society (through-out the world, not just in America) has a utopian dream of making all things equal for all people in all places.
They cannot accept the fact that men and women are different and do contribute equallt to society, but in different ways.
When we began demanding that women be treated as men, we brought almost to a 100% end any honoring of women.
Your wife, your girlfirend, heck they are just another one of the guy’s now.
Want to offend a ‘modern’ woman?
Open the door for her, buy her dinner.
Tell her she need not work, but that you can provide for a family while she can be a full time mother.
When women do not fill their God given roles and men do not fill their God given roles, society will begin to fall apart.
We are the proof.
August 24th, 2005 at 10:50 pm
Case in point-
A while ago, thinking that I was trying to nice I opened the door for woman-
she called me a male chauvinist.
huh?
August 24th, 2005 at 10:50 pm
We’re talking about a “spirit” which pervades the world right now. The “female spirit” tends to be emotional and subservient. I’m not talking about women. I’m talking about a spirit .In general I find the “male spirit” tends to be more “independent” , “objective” “calm” and centered. How can those who want to “rule the world”(global world order) get power with “real men” in position of authority? As I write this, what comes to mind are the young men who at one time , as a fashion trend, had pacifiers around their neck. Look at many of our young men and what you see are men being conditioned to be “babies”,in some cases by the images in mass media, and by their own mothers. It’s more comfortable for some mothers(not all) to have a son who is accomodating and sweet(A momma’s boy, if you will) There is a subtle conditioning to get rid of the traditional male spirit as we know it.