The Trouble With Newsweek’s Cover Story About Boys -- Reverse Sexism At Its Worst

NewsBusters ^ | 1/22/06 | Noel Sheppard

[Only Waxing]

In the new millennium, articles describing the intellectual differences between the genders have been altogether too commonplace. As a result, it wasn’t difficult to presage from the cover of Newsweek’s most recent issue where the editors were going with a headline like “The Boy Crisis.” In fact, once inside, the featured piece, “The Trouble With Boys,” turned into just another in a long line of “exposes” depicting girls as being smarter than boys.

After a pleasant introduction, author Peg Tyre began her laundry list of male deficiencies:

[mattdono]

If anyone hasn't read Christina Hoff Sommers "War Against Boys", I highly recommend it. Though, you will probably want to take some "chill pills" (or a glass of wine) before, during, and after each read, because it will make your blood boil.

I'm not really sure who coined the phrase, but the "sissyfication" of our country started a long time ago, it has purpose, and it is well-funded. Don't kid yourself, it isn't an accident or coincidence.

[joesnuffy]

America's enemies need to weaken us as much as possible...destroying the family by alienating God's intended.. 'Head of the house' and the natural defenders of our nation.

The heart and soul of America is the traditional family with dad as the breadwinner and men as the defenders of family and nation.

Destroy the traditional family and you destroy America.

[mosquewatch.com]

Destroy the traditional family and you destroy America.

You, are an awesome human being.

Jeff

[fizziwig]

I'm A Boy

(Pete Townshend)



One girl was called Jean Marie

Another little girl was called Felicity

Another little girl was Sally Joy

The other was me, and I'm a boy



My name is Bill and I'm a headcase

They practice making up on my face

Yeah, I feel lucky if I get trousers to wear

Spend ages taking hairpins from my hair



Chorus 1

I'm a boy, I'm a boy

But my ma won't admit it

I'm a boy, I'm a boy

But if I say I am I get it



Put your frock on Jean Marie

Plait your hair Felicity

Paint your nails, little Sally Joy

Put this wig on, little boy



Chorus 1



I wanna play cricket on the green

Ride my bike across the stream

Cut myself and see my blood

I wanna come home all covered in mud



Chorus 2

I'm a boy, I'm a boy

But my ma won't admit it

I'm a boy, I'm a boy, I'm a boy

I'm a boy, I'm a boy, I'm a boy, I'm a boy

I'm a boy, I'm a boy, I'm a boy

[Tax-chick]

This writer has a bug up his/her backside. Here's an example from the article that s/he describes as "male-bashing":

“For many boys, the trouble starts as young as 5, when they bring to kindergarten a set of physical and mental abilities very different from girls'. As almost any parent knows, most 5-year-old girls are more fluent than boys and can sight-read more words. Boys tend to have better hand-eye coordination, but their fine motor skills are less developed, making it a struggle for some to control a pencil or a paintbrush. Boys are more impulsive than girls; even if they can sit still, many prefer not to—at least not for long.”

Why is it "male-bashing" to observe that young boys and girls (in general) have different rates of development for different qualities? Other examples he/she gives are similar ... observing that boys and girls often have different qualities and interests is described as "male-bashing."

If the author's a "he," then I suspect he's a girly-man. :-).

[toomanygrasshoppers]

There is also a war against men. Look closely at TV commercials. Usually they depict a man/husband/father who is either incompetent, clueless or childlike. There are even some commercials that show children talking down to their fathers like they were morons. I'm a woman and a mother of sons, and I don't like to see our men viewed this way. I can't even think of an ad that shows a man in a positive light.

[Vor Lady]

...men as the defenders of family and nation....

I praise the Lord that our body of believers is male led and our sons are taught to lead and defend the family through the example of their fathers. Our country hungers for men that lead and defend; look how popular the made up man, 'Jack Bauer', is.

[WOSG]

" Why is it "male-bashing" to observe that young boys and girls (in general) have different rates of development for different qualities?" "

Aside from the breezy generalizations that easy to misinterpret ... when Harvard President made comments about gender differences in professionals and reasons for it, he was called a sexist.

So if you say girls/women are better than men at something, that is okay, but pointing out men are better is sexist.

Seems a double-standard, no?

[Othniel]

There's a book for educators called "Boys and Girls Learn Differently." It's great. The author spends the first third of the book outlining why they're different (hormones, brains, hard-wiring, you name it) and the other two giving teachers suggestions on how to reach each better. He also calls for single-sex classrooms past the 5th grade. Of course, you never see him as a talking head on any news show. Neither do you see Dobson, author of "Bringing up Boys," another great book about boys.

[MaDeuce]

"There is also a war against men. Look closely at TV commercials. Usually they depict a man/husband/father who is either incompetent, clueless or childlike."

Do your self and your family a favor, get rid of your TV. Call the cable company/dish network and cancel your subscription.

Surf the web, read a book, magazine, etc... Listen to the radio or at least put it on for some background noise (classical music is the best). Or how about rent a bunch of old movies. John Wayne, Boggy, Jimmy Stewart, etc...
See what real actors, men were like when America was a great nation.

In time you will feel a lot better ... not so mad, agitated, angered every time you use to see a commercial or some sit-com TV show.

[Tax-chick]

most 5-year-old girls are more fluent than boys and can sight-read more words. Boys tend to have better hand-eye coordination,

Pointing out observable sex differences is not "bashing." It may be accurate or inaccurate (although this one's pretty much a no-brainer), but it's not "sexist".

The fact that the president of Harvard publicly disembowelled himself because some women whined at him says everything we need to know about his masculinity.

[wardaddy]

Yep..

[wardaddy]

The media is overrun with angry chicks, cakeboys and feeble Gen X and Y meterosexuals these days and it shows

even the old yippies and lefties of the 60s knew better than to let women and fags run roughshod over them

[ModelBreaker]

If anyone hasn't read Christina Hoff Sommers "War Against Boys", I highly recommend it. Though, you will probably want to take some "chill pills" (or a glass of wine) before, during, and after each read, because it will make your blood boil. I'm not really sure who coined the phrase, but the "sissyfication" of our country started a long time ago, it has purpose, and it is well-funded. Don't kid yourself, it isn't an accident or coincidence.

It's a great book. It's one of the principal reasons we homeschool. Our boy is a boy. And that's OK.

[starfish923]

If boys are lagging we can thank the women's lib movement, the black power (and later Hispanic/chicano/la raza/latino, Asian, all-else but Euro-) movement and the "gay" movement. They weren't for their own empowerment unless it was, bottom line, at the expense of straight, non-minority males.
They simply HAD to "rob Peter to pay Paul."

Now the boo-hooing begins.
Nothing will be done because the REVERSE, empowering boys at the expense of females, minorities and homosexual, just wouldn't bear thinking of.

Non-minority, straight males, boys included, are not important enough to the power brokers of racial/gender/homosexual politics. Just not important enough. Politics, power and money are ALL they care about.
Strange, innit it, how the whole idea of altruism, Christianity and spirituality go right out the door with racial, gender and homosexual politics? THEY are also the folks behind the get-God-out-of-the-public-realm. THEY are the relative moralists RIGHT ALONG with the godless, amoral/immoral, pornographic, abortion-loving Sleazywood and LamestreamMedia.

And that's a fac, Jack.

[starfish923]

There is also a war against men. Look closely at TV commercials. Usually they depict a man/husband/father who is either incompetent, clueless or childlike. There are even some commercials that show children talking down to their fathers like they were morons. I'm a woman and a mother of sons, and I don't like to see our men viewed this way. I can't even think of an ad that shows a man in a positive light.

You are 100% correct.

It's T.V. commercials, programing, Sleazywood movies of all kinds, magazine articles, advertizing of any/every kind, Broadway plays, books. It pervades American culture. Even Christian churches (ultra liberal ones) play up the God as "she."

You can trace this anti-non-minority male attitude RIGHT ALONG with the athiest, godless, anti-Christian and anti-God from the public eye, "X"mas push by Sleazywood, the media, ACLU, NOW, NAACP, GLAAD and other such fixtures in our society.

Strong men are ONLY depicted if they are minority males. Their condescending attitudes for non-minority males matches the standard female scorn for non-minority men.

Children are even into non-minority men bashing.

[metmom]

bump

[PalestrinaGal0317]

Excuse me--let me get this straight. It is news that boys tend to be more active at a young age than girls? I could have told you that years ago.
Of course, I was a tomboy for pretty much my entire childhood, so I guess I am lucky in that I have had a little more insight than some into how hard it is to sit still, wait to talk, etc when young. That has helped me when I worked with a special-needs boy (who was homeschooled). I found fairly quickly that if we alternated activites (ie, alternating periods of large muscle activity-running, jumping, etc with periods of fine-motor stuff-counting, painting, matching) he did MUCH better at the "school" stuff and had a longer attention span for it. Why can't they do this in schools? Send the kids outside every couple of hours and make them really run around (climbing, running, swinging, jumping) for 15-20 minutes. They'd learn better, and their attention spans would be longer.
But then the boys would BE boys and not "defective girls." Guess we'd better just medicate the h*ll out of them instead. (sarcasm off)