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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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6/99
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2/99

Critics' Rating Index

Bottom of the Pile

9/99

Readers' Rating Index

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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

"For starters, the "journalism" on which she bases her shaky suppositions makes a mockery of the profession ..."

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

"is a very good start."

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

"Moran's great strength is that she argues for men without selling out the sisterhood ..."

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

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

Kirkus Read review ↗ Maybe Someday

"Insightful nuggets of truth and practical wisdom mix with the snorts and sputters of laughter, making this a worthwhile, enjoyable, and timely read."

Kathleen McBroom· Booklist Read review ↗ Near the Top

"Her strength is in writing what she knows, and it is impossible even for the most clever and comprehensive author to sum up an entire sex."

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

"Maybe I'm a bitter old man, but I expected more from that witty teenager who so impressed me 30 years ago."

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

"The real proof of this pudding will come from the response of the men who have the fortune or persistence to find and eat it."

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

"And I'd bet that the men I know are different from the men Caitlin Moran knows and that they're different again from the men you know."

Patrick Freyne· The Irish Times Read review ↗ Maybe Someday

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