The Demise of Guys: Why Boys Are Struggling and What We Can Do About It
by Zimbardo, Philip; Duncan, Nikita .
The premise of the this book is that guys are failing at an alarming rate in society (specifically America). The authors say,
"In fact, society — from politics to the media to the classroom to our very own families — is a major contributor to this demise because they are inhibiting guys’ intellectual, creative and social abilities right from the start"They point out many ways society is contributing to this demise, however they specifically focus on pornography and excessive video gaming. (A while back I posted Zimbardo's TED talk about this subject).
For the most part I do believe that they are on to something, both with the porn and video gaming.
What can we do about?
I really appreciated that fact that the authors did not try and give simple solutions. But they also attempted to give some practical advice to different groups. Two things stood out. One is they said fathers need to be involved in a boys life (or at least some older males). Second, (this is linked to the first) was that fathers need to
"Teach your son about sex. You may feel awkward about it — too bad for you. Your son’s future health depends on him developing balanced perspectives on sex now."
Good book to read (also t is short and it is cheap - a couple of the reasons TED books are awesome).
