First Impressions and Questions: Peggy Orenstein’s “The Miseducation of the American Boy”
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Happy Sunday! This week, it’s time to start our conversation about “The Miseducation of the American Boy,” by Peggy Orenstein. Please share your thoughts in the comments!
What are your first impressions?
What topics do you want us to explore? What questions do you have for the club?
What questions do you have for Ms. Orenstein? (I’m interviewing her on Tuesday!)
My question for Ms. Orenstein would be: How do I help my sons express their feelings? Or model that it is okay to do so? We know things need to change with boys but how, as their parents, teachers, relatives, do we help the change? I think it might be in her book, so I'd love to know if it is, but I'm left wondering, now what?
This excerpt got me: "When I asked my subjects, as I always did, what they liked about being a boy, most of them drew a blank. “Huh,” mused Josh, a college sophomore at Washington State. (All the teenagers I spoke with are identified by pseudonyms.) “That’s interesting. I never really thought about that. You hear a lot more about what is wrong with guys.""
That really hit me! What is good about being a guy?? There are still days that I feel cheated for not having a daughter (I have 2 sons). I love my sons so much but I also think, in general, girls are better than boys. I love being a girl and I love how emotional I am and the amazing bonds I have with other women and the fact that I was able to grow a human life in my body! Of course, there's the better pay and being physically stronger, but a lot of the "good" things that I can come up with seem like things that are at the expense of women. It's pretty great to not feel terrified to walk down a street alone at night. It feels to me like I'm generalizing a little bit here but I'd like to discuss with the group and I think it relates to my question for Ms. Orenstein. My goal in raising honorable men is that they love themselves and not feel guilty about loving themselves or being men. What do men have to be proud of when you take out their dominance over women? I do have some ideas and I actually asked my husband, but he struggled to answer so I'm interested to discuss more.
Hi Article Clubbers! Let’s get this discussion thread going — first impressions? / topics to explore? / questions for the group? / questions for Ms. Orenstein? Remember: (1) No need to be smart or performative, (2) You don’t have to write all your thoughts now — save most of them for the discussion on 4/26, (3) Be kind and respond to each other!
My question for Ms. Orenstein would be: How do I help my sons express their feelings? Or model that it is okay to do so? We know things need to change with boys but how, as their parents, teachers, relatives, do we help the change? I think it might be in her book, so I'd love to know if it is, but I'm left wondering, now what?
This excerpt got me: "When I asked my subjects, as I always did, what they liked about being a boy, most of them drew a blank. “Huh,” mused Josh, a college sophomore at Washington State. (All the teenagers I spoke with are identified by pseudonyms.) “That’s interesting. I never really thought about that. You hear a lot more about what is wrong with guys.""
That really hit me! What is good about being a guy?? There are still days that I feel cheated for not having a daughter (I have 2 sons). I love my sons so much but I also think, in general, girls are better than boys. I love being a girl and I love how emotional I am and the amazing bonds I have with other women and the fact that I was able to grow a human life in my body! Of course, there's the better pay and being physically stronger, but a lot of the "good" things that I can come up with seem like things that are at the expense of women. It's pretty great to not feel terrified to walk down a street alone at night. It feels to me like I'm generalizing a little bit here but I'd like to discuss with the group and I think it relates to my question for Ms. Orenstein. My goal in raising honorable men is that they love themselves and not feel guilty about loving themselves or being men. What do men have to be proud of when you take out their dominance over women? I do have some ideas and I actually asked my husband, but he struggled to answer so I'm interested to discuss more.
Hi Article Clubbers! Let’s get this discussion thread going — first impressions? / topics to explore? / questions for the group? / questions for Ms. Orenstein? Remember: (1) No need to be smart or performative, (2) You don’t have to write all your thoughts now — save most of them for the discussion on 4/26, (3) Be kind and respond to each other!