The Trouble With Boys and Men
This is an edition of Up for Debate, a newsletter by Conor Friedersdorf. On Wednesdays, he rounds up timely conversations and solicits reader responses to one thought-provoking question. Later, he publishes some thoughtful replies. Sign up for the newsletter here.
Question of the Week
Why are men and boys struggling? What should we do about it?
Send your responses to [email protected] or simply reply to this email.
Conversations of Note
Those questions are top of mind this week due to the Brookings scholar Richard Reeves and his just-released book, Of Boys and Men, which proceeds from the proposition that “men at the top are still flourishing, but men in general are not.” Men are struggling in school, in the job market, and in family life; they are the gender most likely to end up in prison and most vulnerable to “deaths of despair.”
Reeves grounds those characterizations of males as in trouble in lots of
