Of Boys and Men
Richard Reeves surveys the widening gaps between men and women in education, work, and family life, and argues that a serious response is compatible with, not opposed to, feminism. He documents boys falling behind girls in school from kindergarten through college, working-age men dropping out of the labor force, and the disproportionate share of suicides, overdoses, and deaths of despair among men without four-year degrees. Reeves proposes specific policy responses, from starting boys in school a year later to expanding the pipeline of male teachers to redesigning vocational education and fatherhood policy. He treats the politics carefully, arguing that ignoring the male half of the equation cedes the issue to reactionary voices with worse answers. The book has become a reference point in policy debates precisely because it refuses the choice between caring about women and caring about men.
What you might want to know about Of Boys and Men
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
Brookings scholar Richard Reeves marshals the data on where American boys and men are falling behind and argues that policy has to take the problem seriously.
Galloway has interviewed Reeves on Prof G Pod and cites the book constantly in his own writing on young men, calling it the most important recent work on a problem the mainstream has been slow to name.
No. Reeves is explicit that he writes as a supporter of gender equality and argues the male-focused response is necessary precisely to keep the field away from reactionary politics.
Of Boys and Men was written by Richard V. Reeves, published in 2022 by Brookings Institution Press.
Of Boys and Men is 256 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Of Boys and Men takes most readers 4 to 6 hours to finish.
Of Boys and Men is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.