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What About Men? A Feminist Answers the Question

What About Men? A Feminist Answers the Question

by Caitlin Moran

Harper ·2023 ·320 pages
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Bottom of the Pile
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6/99
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2/99

Critics' Rating Index

Bottom of the Pile

9/99

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Scholars' Citation Index

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Volume of Reviews

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About This Book

With her signature candor and wit, New York Times bestselling author Caitlin Moran attempts to answer society's weirdly unasked question: What About Men? Like anyone who discusses the problems of girls and women in public, Caitlin Moran has often been confronted with the question: "But what about men?" And at first, tbh, she dgaf. Boys, and men, are fine, right? Feminism doesn't need to worry about them. However, around the time she heard an angry young man saying he was "boycotting" International Women' Day because "It's easier to be a woman than a man these days," she started to wonder: are unhappy boys, and men, also making unhappy women? The statistics on male misery are grim: boys are falling behind in school, are at greater risk of depression, greater risk of suicide, and, most pertinently, are increasingly at risk from online misogynist radicalization. Will the Sixth Wave of feminism need to fix the men, if it wants to fix the women? Moran began to investigate--talking to her husband, close male friends, and her daughters' friends: bringing up very difficult and candid topics, and receiving vulnerable and honest responses. So: what about men? Why do they only go to the doctor if their partner makes them? Why do they never discuss their penises with each other--but make endless jokes about their balls? What is porn doing for young men? Is sexual strangling a good hobby for young people to have? Are men ever allowed to be sad? Are they ever allowed to lose? Have Men's Rights Activists confused "power" with "empowerment"? Are Mid-Life Crises actually quite cool? And what's the deal with Jordan Peterson's lobster? In this thoughtful, warm, provocative book, Moran opens a genuinely new debate about how to reboot masculinity for the twenty-first century, so that "straight white man" doesn't automatically mean bad news--but also uses the opportunity to make a lot of jokes about testicles, and trousers. Because if men have neither learned to mine their deepest anxieties about masculinity for comedy, nor answered the question "What About Men?," then it's up to a busy woman to do it.


Reviews

"Moran's candid humor does the cause of gender equality more harm than good ..."

Meredith Maran· Los Angeles Review of Books Read review ↗ Bottom of the Pile

"When it works, it really does work."

Stuart Heritage· The Times (UK) Read review ↗ Near the Top

"Typical Moran-like ..."

Kathleen McBroom· Booklist Read review ↗ Near the Top

"It is screamingly funny, boldly against the grain and socially urgent."

Rhik Samadder· The Guardian Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"A breezy read but with few new insights and will no doubt find itself in the Women's Section of the bookstores."

Jane Haile· The New York Journal of Books Read review ↗ Maybe Someday

"Caitlin purports to be in earnest about helping men with their problems, but cannot resist scoring points at their expense."

Toby Young· The Spectator (UK) Read review ↗ Bottom of the Pile

"But much more often, Moran's method is to have a far from original thought."

Stuart Jeffries· The Guardian Read review ↗ Bottom of the Pile

"She's funny and empathetic and her heart is in the right place."

Patrick Freyne· The Irish Times Read review ↗ Maybe Someday

"In the right hands, this book is reassuring, enlightening, and inspiring; in others, it's OK to skim."

Kirkus Read review ↗ Maybe Someday

"Those hoping for a sociological dig into men and masculinity will be disappointed."

Jessica Bennett· The New York Times Read review ↗ Maybe Someday

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