What about the boys

[nooka]

I was looking for a reference showing that childhood testosterone surges were an invention, and came across this article which although written almost 15 years ago would I think interest people here and ties into the He for She thing too. So I thought I'd share it and see if other people might like it too (not that I am saying every word is good mind!)

It's about boys performance at school, which is interesting, but the part I really found thought provoking was the section on masculinity and how damaging the 'boy code' is to both men and women.

Well blow me down with a feather that's one of the best articles I've read on the whole boy culture / crisis . If only Emma Watson had incorporated some of the ideas in her speech.

That is excellent. I especially liked this:

"feminism has offered a blueprint for a new boyhood and masculinity based on a passion for justice, a love of equality, and expression of a fuller emotional palette. So naturally, feminists will be blamed for male bashing—feminists imagine that men (and boys) can do better"

(Though he maybe has a slightly idealised view of European men )

A very interesting article. I particularly liked the bit about single sex schools as I've been pondering the topic recently. I went to a girls' school and hated it and always said I would have preferred a mixed school, but recently I've realised that I was protected from the sexual harassment, confidence sapping and restrictions that seem to be standard in mixed schools (I did STEM subjects at A-level), so was doubting my objections. However, the local boys' school definitely seemed to produce sexist boys with inflated egos, so I agree with the suggestion that girls' schools act against gender inequality but boys' schools reinforce it. And you can't have one without the other, unless you abandon a whole section of girls to a completely gender imbalanced school, where they would get the worst of both worlds.

But that was just a small part of the article, the rest was great too, thanks for linking.

I've sent it on to DP who teaches in a boys' school

Glad you liked it too :)

A college-educated woman earns about the same as a high-school educated man

This struck a chord with me. Thanks OP that's very interesting