What Are Little Boys Made Of? - notes (incomplete)

"Because of feminism, they say, America has been so focused on girls that we've forgotten about the boys."

"By minimizing the importance of basic biological differences, and establishing girls' standards as the ones all children much follow, feminists have wrecked boyhood."

"We've misunderstood boy biology, and cultural meddling - especially by misinformed women - won't change a thing."

"Boy Code" "Mask of masculinity"
    -boys must put on an image of vein independent, brave, and invulnerable
    -teaches that boys are supposed to be in power
    - men's association with violence originates in "the fear of shame and ridicule, and the overbearing need to prevent others from laughing at oneself by making they weep instead."

"Guarian's books disingenuously show one boy of color on each over, but there's nary a mention of them inside."
    -reminds me of Professor Bogad's story of her 'intersectionality slip' with the picture behind her saying "I AM A MAN"
    -also reminded me of Barbara Smith's, Racism and Women's Studies, and how she, a black woman, was invited to speak at a feminists convention, and no one that spoke before her recognized racism as an important topic of discussion

INTERVENTIONS OF BOYHOOD

Repudiate, reprimand, punish, ANTIFEMINISM
       -Gurian suggests corporal punishment at home and school, "spanking responsibly"
       -Bioldulph suggests that boys should start school a year later than girls so they would be "on par intellectually"
       "boys will by uncivilized animals" - author, as a male, is insulted by this.
Ignore
      -Kindlon and Thompson suggest that we "allow boys to be boys," accepting high levels of activity, language, using discipline to guide and build, modeling manhood as emotionally attached
      - **do not address male entitlement

--> the culture of men being "in charge" and following the "boy code" results in men becoming emotionally unavailable, suffering in silence, and being "silent witnesses to acts of cruelty to others"

"Feminism encourages men - and their sons - to be more emotionally open and express ice, to develop empathic skills, and to channel emotional outbursts away from violence. And feminism demands the kinds of societal changes that makes this growth possible"

"half of all teenage boys get into a physical fight each year" - seems REALLY high..

"raising boys to manhood means confronting racism, sexism, and homophobia - both in our communities and in ourselves."

""we believe that masculine violence is intentional, deliberate, and purposeful. It comes from an attempt by men and boys to create and sustain a system of masculine power and control that benefits them every minute of the day." Forget testosterone; it's sexism!"

Gilligan- "violence has far more to do with the cultural construction of manhood than it does with the hormonal substrates of biology."
   -"who, after all, has offered the most trenchant critique of that cultural construction but feminists?"

-Feminists feel that boys and men can do better.
  --> "offer possibility of a new boyhood and a new masculinity based on a passion for justice, a love of equality, and the expression of a full range of feelings."