Boys Adrift: Five Factors Driving the Growing Epidemic of Unmotivated Boys and Underachieving Young Men
is an excellent book discussing why we are seeing such a trend of men and boys who are happy to be underachievers. I remember watching the movie "Failure to Launch" and thinking how funny it was...until I realized how true it was. My own two youngest brothers fit that category...even though they have both been married and each have kids!I have also seen many examples of men who have no desire to support their families or even to marry at all. It is also scary to see so many women willing to raise children in single homes.
I highly recommend this book. The part that probably scared me the most was the chapter on plastics. I think that is that only thing from this book that is a change I need to make in our home. (See more about Endocrine Disruptors here and BPA Fact Sheet). The main concerns for boys are lowered sperm counts and too much estrogen which effeminates the males.
Of course, the author does not advocate home education as a possible fix for boys who hate school. He advocates same-sex schools instead. Other than that I was pretty impressed with this book.
Check out the Boys Adrift website.
Thanks for posting these articles, Rebekah. They definitely explain a lot about how society has changed in gender roles.
ReplyDeleteBoys Adrift focuses a little on social aspects and a lot on environment...plastics leaching feminizing hormones (leading to low sperm counts, smaller genitals, loss of motivation, etc.) and the changes in the brain that happen with video game usage and ADHD medications. Very different topics, but all leading us to understanding more about what is happening and how we can stop the bad things and perpetuate the good.
There was a study done by the journal of medicine (I will research the location for you) in which they measured the amount of testosterone in convicts who had committed violent crimes. They all had high testosterone levels and larger genitals. They all had several children from several different women. The lower the testosterone the less likely men where to commit acts of violence, including domestic violence and rape. It is interesting that judgments are frequently made between what is Feminine and what is not. In reality is that the decrease in achievement or drive in men is not testosterone it is what Economists and Anthropologists know to be the result of a depressive economy. They do not feel that they can get a fair wage by working, so they don't until the wage is raised. As far as the sciences go, there are still brilliant scientists who are developing new technologies, and they have always been the minority of any group. In many ways we are benefited by the addition of brilliant female scientists to that list who can actually take credit for their ideas, unlike during the "golden age" that people often think of i.e the cotton gin. In my opinion both sexes are benefited by sharing the work. I know your brothers life and the life of my little ones have been benefited by having daddy hold, comfort, feed, and play with them. I know I was benefited by having a great dad around who took care of me. This book sounds like it takes a very narrow topic and addresses it in a small way. There are several issues that relate to modern day actions of men and women not one, and as for your brothers-that is the effect of parenting, not testosterone (evidenced by their ability to procreate). I could ask for example, how much work your younger sister does. My guess would be that she does the majority of the housework, works, and does a majority of all other work involved in sustaining home and family life. I know that you yourself fit that description as well. Why? Because she was taught that she wasn't good enough unless she did. Your brothers were taught that they were above work. You are descended from royalty after all ;-) There is also the fact that your Dad raised all of you with the notion of get rich quick schemes instead of the traditional notioin that if you work hard you get ahead. I disagree with this argument and could use the great abuse of innocent individuals by those who were "driven" and without any type of "feminine" charactoristics as evidence. Hitler for example may have been benefited by some addition estrogen at a young age.
ReplyDeleteHansonpatch - I hope you will read the book before judging the topic. However, you don't have any boys so I think it may not be something that interests you. I could be wrong about that. But, your girls will most likely grow up to marry one of these boys, so it might be something everyone needs to study and ponder what it means to them.
ReplyDeleteThere are 5 things sited in this book, the estrogen disruptors being only one issue. Parenting, education, social, and entertainment issues are also addressed. I only mention the chemical estrogen disruptors as the one that needs to be addressed in our home, which leaves my review a poor one since I did not touch on all the factors.
You stated - "I could ask for example, how much work your younger sister does. My guess would be that she does the majority of the housework, works, and does a majority of all other work involved in sustaining home and family life. I know that you yourself fit that description as well."
I don't know where you get this information from. You must not know my household as well as you think.
You are my sister-in-law, yet we have very different views on life. That is not a bad thing, just different. Hopefully we can celebrate our differences of opinion and not fight about them.